Changing Tides
by JJbad
Summary: Several months have passed since Iruka left on a mission to water. He is presumed dead and any hope of his return has been lost. Now a man bearing a striking resemblance to Iruka has emerged from Mist with no memory of who he is.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from the manga or anime.

_Changing Tides_

_Prologue_

"Who is he?"

"I have no idea. Koga's team brought him in."

"We shouldn't be treating him then!"

"He's feverish and his pulse is weak. Why wouldn't we treat him?"

"What if he's from another country?"

"What if he isn't from another country and he's one of ours?"

"Have you seen him before?"

"No, have you?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking you, now would I?"

"Is there any identification on him at all?"

"No, he was brought in just like this."

"That really doesn't help us at all."

"Well he's not an Anbu, he doesn't have the tattoo."

"That's good we won't have much of a threat to deal with if he wakes up."

"What if he's a Jounin?"

"We can keep him sedated until we find out who he is."

"I guess."

"It's settled then."

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get the things we need to do blood work."

"Why?"

"Check out that wound on his right arm. It's infected, he might have been poisoned."

"So you are thinking of treating him?

"We can get him to perfect health, than sedate him till the village figures out what it wants to do."

"I guess that will work."

"What's the worst that can happen?"

_A year later…_

One word flashed through the ninja's mind as he began his journey from the land of Water.

_Traitor._

There was a traitor in the Village Hidden in Mist, and it was his duty as a ninja of Konoha to report it. A traitor that everyone knew or thought they knew so well.

The moon was full tonight and it was with this light that the ninja made his way through the forest, jumping from tree to tree and trying to be as silent as possible. It was with that light that the ninja stopped as he saw a reflection of light on the floor of the forest. Slowing his pace until he was a few feet in front of it, he looked down, but only saw his own imagine staring back at him. He was sure it had to be a trap and drew out several shuriken. He saw nothing except a little blood on a nearby tree. Slowly making his way towards the tree, he pressed his fingers against the bark and felt that the blood was damp.

The small pool of water he'd so carelessly dismissed before began to move towards the ninja, wrapping slowly around the man's legs and around his torso. A drop on his sleeve alerted the ninja and he gazed down, noticing the stream of water that seemed to be hovering an inch away from his body. The water engulfed his arms before he could even think to use them in defense. His arms were spread out so far he began to wince in pain, the shuriken he held in his hand were dropped to the floor as even his fingers were spread. The water swirling around his legs drew them together as if he were being bound before the whole stream itself began to solidify. The ninja grunted in effort to break free of the water's hold over him, whipping his head to the left and right. He could only watch in horror as the ice moved up his body. In only a few seconds, the only part left free was his head.

"What the fuck!" He yelled out, not that anyone could hear him.

A light chuckle was heard from above him.

"Didn't they say curiosity killed the cat?" An unknown voice said.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" A soft thump as shoes met earth, and he stared at the owner of the mocking voice.

"Traitor!" The acid in his voice was easily heard and the other Ninja smiled at that.

The other ninja was hidden behind a veil of his own hair. The only thing that could be seen was a scar across a tanned nose. The hair veiling his face stopped at his neck where a headband of The Mist was hanging loosely atop a black fishnet shirt.

"I'm not a traitor." The mist ninja's voice was soft and firm at the same time.

"Yes you are! How could you betray us? A lot of people believed in you, respected you, and looked up to you. Now all you've done is given them someone else to hate." The leaf ninja growled out to the mist ninja.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." The mist ninja looked up slightly, his hair moving a bit to expose a brown eye, which he used to stare at the other man. Slowly lifting his arm the light reflected slightly on the transparent kunai that he held in his hand. The kunai itself seemed to be slowly emitting silver smoke as if it were made of ice.

The other man thought it best to try and change tactics since this wasn't getting him anywhere.

"Iru-" the word was caught in his throat as the clear weapon was thrown into his neck.

"Never call me that!" The other man lost his control and for a second, the wounded man was reminded of who he once was. The man began to walk away till he pressed a fingerless gloved hand against the nearest tree.

"You're the ninth person to call me that and that name means nothing to me. Nothing at all." The hand made a fist against the trunk. "I have no memories before nine months and twelve days ago." At this, the Mist Ninja turned around, his hair once again covering both eyes. He leaned back against the tree and looked up at the moon. " A traitor is a person who consciously gives information to an enemy for something. I know nothing of this Konoha you speak of besides the fact that I should kill every last one of you I encounter."

A gurgling sound came from the other man as he tried to speak. From the corner of the man's mouth blood began to drip a as his eyes rolled back into his head. The man forced his head forward and his eyes to stare at the traitor again.

"You won't be able to talk anymore, nor will you be alive for more than a few minutes. You should take this time to look back on your own life and stop worrying about mine." The mist ninja laughed softly. He raised his hand upward, fingers curling as they reached the top, before making a fist and dropping down to his waist. The ice trapping the other man rose before completely encasing him.

Aikido walked over to him and grinned at his own work before delivering a spinning kick to the ice, on contact it burst into thousands of pieces. He walked away in silence, hands under his trench coat in his pants pockets as he made his way back to his own hidden village.

In the moonlight among the shards of ice, the Konoha headband was still rolling before it stopped several feet from where its owner was massacred. For a few seconds the light shone on it before the metal cracked right through the center of the leaf. In the morning, this would be all that was left of this human as his body began to dissolve into the earth.

End of Prologue.


	2. Chapter 1: Fragile Minds

Changing Tides

Chapter 1: _Fragile Minds_

The man slowly stood up from his chair and walked to the window overlooking the village. He was somewhat amazed at how much the village had changed over the past year and allowed a slight smile; maybe it was because something good happened to him within the past year.

A little more then a year ago he was ready to rip the spines out of two doctors at the hospital for treating a ninja not from this village, but when they gave him the blood work he decided to spare them his wrath. The blood work they have given to him was proof that his lineage wouldn't be severed when he died and for that he was glad. His family always chose to pass this village down to one another due to their blood limit and going out of that tradition might have put a strain on the village its self. He knew that his own personal child wouldn't be taking his place since his own wife and children were assassinated several years ago, him having a child now wouldn't change the fact that if something happened to him the village would fall into hands other then their own. He could have sworn that he would have been the last to actually inherit this duty.

He moved back towards his desk and reached into the bottom drawer where he pulled out a rumpled letter that looked as if it was more than a decade old. He scanned through the letter quickly – he'd memorized the words that his older sibling had written him from wherever she was. It was just a letter to say that he was an uncle and that he would never be able to see his nephew.

He scowled at the letter before folding it back up and tossing it into the drawer carelessly. He was as usual upset by the words written on the piece of paper, but he had to smile at how fate always found a way to help out those in need. His family's blood was tied to this village andhis sister knew that even before she ran away.

He sat back down in his chair and leaned back as he looked up at the ceiling of his office. He couldn't blame his sister though; so much was pushed onto her since her birth several minutes before him. The graduation exam when she was at school drove her to leaving the country as fast as she could even if she was only twelve years old and marked by their father to take his place. His back ached painfully as he recalled how a year after she had left he was branded by the same mark she would carry to her grave. He had a fleeting thought of his younger sister and wondered if she was doing okay. He knew she was married and left the village shortly after with her poor husband, not intending to have anything to do with her family again.

Leaning forward in his chair he called out in a firm voice, "Yoshi!" a second later a man appeared shaking slightly. He knew that he had a legendary temper but as of late his pride in having a nephew to teach and hand down Kiriga had made him happier than he cared to admit.

"Yes Lord Mizukage?" The quiver in the young blonde's voice was audible even to the deaf and the older man laughed internally that he could still terrify people even when calm.

"Go get Aikido, tell him it's time to train." The Kage looked at the wall and saw that it was half past one and he should be teaching his nephew.

"Yes Sir!" Yoshi said and in a flurry of water he disappeared. The Mizukage stood up and looked outside the window again. Yes he had to train his nephew who knew nothing about his past, but still showed the blood limit of his clan. The man crossed his arm over his chest as he looked to the farthest reaches of the village. Everything would reside with Aikido and he hoped that nothing wouldhappen to the last member of his family.

Iwillnotadmitdefeatforthetideshavenotshowthemselves

A young looking man was gazing into one of the many streams that ran in and out of the village. The clear blue stream was abuzz with fish jumping in and out and the man smiled at the simple act before returning his gaze back into the stream.

He hadkilled another person from that Village and they called him by that name again.

Placing his hand into the stream he let a bit of chakra flow through his fingertips and his blood limit froze the water for a second before allowing it to thaw again instantly. His memories seemed to be coming back after encountering that person, but it wasn't much.

He hated the fact that he couldn't remember anything and hated the fact that poison did this to him. Shortly after waking up the doctors told him he might never be able to get his memories back. They were coming back, but nothing that he could really grasp on to.

He sent more chakra into the stream, this time completely covering the top area of the entire stream with a thin sheet of ice. His mind went over the possibilities: Either his uncle was lying to him or this village wanted to turn him against his own. Unfreezing the water again, he withdrew his hand, this time the water followed him through the force of his will and he watched as it hovered in a sphere a few inches above his hand.

'Would my uncle lie to me?' he thought to himself as he allowed the ball of water to reshape into a weapon and freeze before bending it back into a ball hovering a few inches above his hand. Was the man even his real uncle? He'd only told him about a month after he woke up in the hospital. He knew that blood limits weren't something that could just be given out carelessly and tended to run only through family members' blood. There were times when he could see a resemblance between them such as how quickly they both were to anger and how they both were more perceptive then people gave them credit for.

Letting the ball of water fall back into the stream he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and tried to look into his memories and saw nothing but darkness surrounding him. Trying harder to force every piece of his being into remembering he felt his ties to reality slip away into nothingness as he got lost in his day dream.

_He was surrounded by fire -- everyone around was screaming and panicking as a giant nine tailed fox ran through__the village, destroying everything in its path. He jumped back as the building next to him exploded and felt relief as a tall woman ran to him and hugged him. She was crying and mouthing words that he couldn't hear no matter how hard he strained his ears. She pushed him into a pair of arms that belonged someone that looked about his age before he was pulled away, her eyes sad the entire time. He couldn't hear anything and he tried to pull himself away and run back to her but the grip on his arm was as firm as steel. The only thing he could make out was as soft as a passing breeze before she turned away her braid flowing in the wind._

"_I Love you."_

"Aikido!" the voice sounded distant and didn't seem to belong in the world he was currently in.

"Aikido!" The voice was louder than he would have preferred and the world of his memories seemed to be breaking; the fire was phasing in and out as he was roused out of his dream.

"Aikido." The voice was close and he felt a hand on his shoulder before his eyes snapped opened instantly, he made an arch with his right hand while grabbing the arm that touched him with his left hand and flipping Yoshi onto the floor in front of him. The water from the stream came at his call spiraling around his left hand before solidifying and forming a wicked looking blade of ice. Bringing it to Yoshi's neck he growled. The look in his eyes was a bit insane as if he was high or coming off of one.

Yoshi gulped as he felt the blade began to bite into his skin and instantly regretted not waiting until the man was done with whatever he was doing before interrupting him. He let out a whimper and thought of how quickly his life would end just because he was delivering a message.

Aikido blinked a few times letting his foggy mind bring him back to the current world and he saw Yoshi looking at him terrified. He threw the ice weapon back and heard a splash as it deformed back into water and fell into the stream that he was gazing at so intently a while ago.

"What do you want" Aikido said voice almost as cold as the weapon he wielded a few seconds ago. He brushed the dirt of his pants and glared at blonde.

"I just came to tell you that the Mizukage said that it was time to train," he gulped and stood slowly to his feet, taking a few cautious steps back slowly so as not to piss off the dark haired man who almost killed him without a second thought.

Aikido said nothing as picked up a coat Yoshi knew was not there moments before and headed to the center of the village. Sometimes the Mizukage and Aikido were so alike that it scared him. He just hoped none of their anger was ever directed at him.

The blonde gulped before he left going back to the mission room where he was needed.

Iwillnotadmitdefeatforthetideshavenotshowthemselves

Revenge was a vicious cycle -- everyone knew that and to avenge someone was to have someone come after you when you least expected it. Sasuke was an avenger due to his brother killing every member of his family and leaving him alive. He swore with every fiber of his being to be the one to destroy his brother; that was his life's goal.

Aiming high and fighting for perfection throughout his academy days and showing dedication that Konoha hadn't seen since his brother. Lusting for power and deserting Konoha just so he could gain more power to defeat Itachi and finally succeeding in his goal a while ago. Instead of feeling ecstatic about it he felt even worse off. He deserted everyone he knew just for the sake of revenge and now he was left with nothing.

There was a down side to revenge no one ever talked about and that was this empty feeling. When all revenge is done, what do you have left? Sasuke had nothing but his name and even that wouldn't get him anywhere. The once prestigious Uchiha name was worth nothing with the betrayal of not one but two of the last remaining clan members. Well one if you counted the fact that Itachi was no long alive. No other village would take him and he was forced to go back to where it all started**: **Konoha.

Of course, when you were once the highlight of the village as he was, it was shocking how he could no longer see the looks of admiration, jealously, and respect people used to gaze at him with. Those looks were all gone and all he saw was the scathing glares people directed at him since he set out to kill his brother. Some even went as far as to throw rocks at him, which he dodged them simply enough and nearly activated his Sharingan upon some of the attackers, but stopped himself from attacking when he saw that it was only kids that barely came up to his waist. He watched as they ran behind their mother as she shielded them as if he was going to attack them. He had to scoff at that thought, if he wanted them dead they would be dead and it was as simple as that.

The talk about him coming back to the village was an interesting one and the Hokage was close to executing him right when he appeared in her office. They came to an agreement, but he wouldn't be doing any solo missions or have the trust of the villagers anytime soon.

He was glad that he could return to his home but frowned as he felt he was being tailed. He should have known that they were going to watch him constantly to make sure he wouldn't leave the village and go missing again.

So here he sat in the middle of a dark room of the Uchiha compound, which had been ransacked and cleaned out of every single weapon, jutsu and everything dangerous that the Uchihas ever possessed. He didn't care that much though, he had mastered everything that the scrolls contained long before he left and was grateful that they hadn't take everything such as beds and clothing when they cleaned out the place.

Looking out the window he stood up and stretched for a few seconds before heading towards the door. Although everyone hated him the number one knuckle headed ninja of Konoha still valued him as a friend and he'd be a fool to throw that friendship away again.

Walking outside he put on his best passive mask and headed to the ramen stand. Rain drizzled lightly, but he didn't increase his leisurely pace – he needed time to think before he reached his destination.

The two constant chakra signatures of his guards following him never wavered.

Iwillnotadmitdefeatforthetideshavenotshowthemselves

Eating ramen has always been one of Naruto's best ways to gain nutrition and to pass time, but since everything that had happened lately; he couldn't find enjoyment in the taste of his favorite food as much as before.

When he had come back to Konoha after his long time away, the first thing he did was run to his favorite ex-sensei's house, expecting him to be home. He knocked outside for several minutes, but he wasn't there at all. Which was odd considering the man was usually predictable in his schedule. He snapped his fingers and turned to run into the mission room expecting him to be taking mission reports. He was in for a shock to find out that he wasn't there but a fellow ninja quickly told him that his old sensei was away on a mission.

Days quickly turned to months and months turned into a year and he still saw no sign of his old sensei. One day when he was knocking on the door he was surprised to find not his sensei, but Anko coming out with a box of what looked like his stuff.

"Hey you what are you doing with Iruka-Sensei's things!" he yelled loud enough to shake a few windows.

"Hey you quiet down!" she yelled just as loud before knocking him upside the head and laughing as he cried out in pain. She looked back at the apartment and back down at the boy.

"Iruka has been gone for a while now and they are going to start removing his stuff to make the apartment available for rent in a few weeks." She sounded somewhat sad. "So instead of them tossing it out on the street I am going to take it to my place till he gets back."

She muttered something to herself that he couldn't make out before shoving him aside and descending down a flight of stairs leaving the boy standing there.

So here he sat a ramen stand not too long after that, wondering if and when his old sensei would come back. He could feel tears prickle at the back of his eyes at the thought of his old sensei not coming back at all.

He should be glad that Sasuke was back and to a sense he was but Sasuke wasn't Iruka and he would never be able to replace the place the dark haired man had in his heart. He looked down and noticed that he was only on his second bowl of ramen while he would usually be on his 5th or 6th by now. Worried eyes of the owner looked at him and he grinned trying to hide the tears of someone who had just lost someone close to them. Iruka wasn't dead. He wasn't going to let his mind go through those depressing thoughts.

He looked to a stool next to him and could have sworn he saw a ghost of his teacher smiling at him from his own bowl of transparent ramen. A crash of thunder was heard and he jumped for a second, glancing outside to see a streak of lightning and seconds later another boom. He turned back to where he saw the image, and wasn't surprised to see it gone. It was just a lack of ramen, he told himself as he began to finish his second bowl.

"Don't tell me you can barely finish up two bowls of ramen you loser," a teasing voice said sliding into a stool besides him.

"I can so you bastard," he growled at Sasuke who seemed to just appear out of nowhere, although he did invite the other ninja to the ramen stand earlier.

"Oh yeah prove it," he taunted. Never one to turn down a challenge, Naruto stood up from his chair.

"Give me 5 more bowels of ramen!" Naruto screamed, then he realized what was happening and allowed a small smile to cross his lips. Leave it to Sasuke to get Naruto out of his depressive mood with a challenge. He smiled as he glanced over at the other boy who was talking to the owner, ordering his own bowl of ramen.

'Thank you bastard' he mentally thought as he dug into the piping hot bowl of ramen that was placed in front of him.

Iwillnotadmitdefeatforthetideshavenotshowthemselves

The rain was falling onto his head, yet he didn't care in the least, all he could do was stare at thememorial stone that had been here for longer than he has been alive. Moving slowly towards the stone he traced one of the many names that adorned the object, a name that he had became familiar with a long time ago.

"Hello again old friend," the voice was sad and low, barely audible over the sound the rain was making. "Sorry I haven't been to visit you lately, but things have been a little more hectic than usual for me." He stopped tracing the name and placed his hand back into his pants pocket.

"Remember how when we were kids we always said we'd start a family sometime before we died?" he asked the cold stone, pausing for a few seconds as if the person he was talking to was going to answer him. "I was a few months from starting one." The voice was cold and hinted at a great loss.

"I guess I should start at the beginning ey?" he looked away from the stone to the stormy sky above him.

"Remember a little more then ago when-," a loud boom sounded as he said the name, effectively concealing it from any listeners that would have happened to be in range. "Went on that mission and never came back?" He looked back to the stone waiting for an answer that would never come. "Well after that I met Saya."

Kakashi brought a hand up to his face wiping off the water droplets that were getting in his eye before continuing, "She was something else you know? Smart, talented and other things I can't even begin to describe." He smiled at his own memory. "We dated for a few months before she broke up with me suddenly. I thought it was going to be the usual excuse you're a ninja and I can't stand knowing that you might be walking out the door for the last time." He shook his head and chuckled darkly. "In a way I wish that was the reason. A month later she came and told me she was pregnant." He waved a hand at the stone. "Yeah, yeah I know your laughing your ass off at me. Trust me I think I was more terrified of being a father than anything else in my life."

He turned away from the stone looking towards the graveyard and sighing.

"Do you know why I said was?" He turned to look at the memorial stone again. "She died last Sunday from pregnancy complications. Two months before my child was to be born."

The silver hair man laughed, which sounded hollow even to his own ears.

"Everyone I care about dies; you'd think I'd learn that lesson by now. You, Sensei, Rin-" thunder roared taking a name that no one could even began decipher. Kakashi continued on as if the thunder did no such thing. "You guys all faded away and left me alone here in this world. Even my unborn child died before I could even get a chance to know and see him. It was said that is was supposed to be a boy." He looked up to the sky feeling the raindrops fall down his face like tears.

"I would have made a lousy father anyway," his shoulders began to shake. "I mean look who my father is -- a disgrace of a ninja who didn't even die with his honor intact. He didn't care that he had a son, all he could care about was his honor." Turning to face the hokage monument he looked at the face of the 4th.

"You know you were more like a father to me than my own, Sensei? Even though we didn't even have that much time left when you were still in this world. You becoming Hokage and me joining ANBU... There are so many things wrong with growing up too fast even during a time of war. I almost wish I could go back and live out my childhood not as a Genius but just as a kid." He turned back to face the memorial stone.

"If I could go back in time there are a lot more things I'd change than that, like your death Obito or Rin leaving, even- " another crash of thunder over that name as if the sky it's self wanted to silence it. "-leaving on that mission. The worse part is they never knew how I felt. All we did was argue, although after he left things looked up for me for a little bit." He grinned through his mask.

"Did I ever tell you I love the rain,Obito?" he reached a hand up to brush the water out of his eyes. "The sky cries for me when I should but can't." He turned towards the graveyard and began walking slowly**, **mentally preparing what he was going to say to Saya and his unborn child.

Iwillnotadmitdefeatforthetideshavenotshowthemselves

The Hokage's assistant fled from the room as soon as she handed over the folder, knowing what kind of reaction those sheets of paper inside would invoke.

The blonde haired woman looked at the door where her ran out of in a confused manner before she looked into the black folder. Eyes roamed over the pages, going through reports from a shinobi she hadsent to do surveillance in Water Country. She looked at the last paper and her eyes widened.

Picking up the folder she threw it across the room and let out an angry growl. Papers scattered everywhere, yet one paper floated on top of the desk stating MIA in vivid red letters. She picked up the paper from her desk and tore it into several pieces before tossing them up in the air. Everything was going so well for Ken as he was able to visit most of the villages there without any problems. What could have happened to him? His contact said he hadn't reported back in a week.

"How many is that now?" she questioned herself as she knew this wasn't the only time her ninja went on a one way surveillance mission to Water never to came back. It all started a little over a year ago when she first sent Iruka and his team on a mission there. Surveillance wasn't supposed to be that hard -- a C to B ranked mission of ninja that she put together herself and knew was more than capable of completing.

A fist came down on the desk almost hard enough to crack the wood and she growled again. What was wrong with Water? Was Mist planning an attack on one of the other hidden villages? Was Konoha a challenge to them? Were they planning something big that they had put a lock down on the whole country?

"No that would make no sense, Ken checked out most of the Villages in that country and saw nothing to show a planned attack on anyone, although none of those other villages hasany shinobi power."

"I must be missing something." She said softly as she opened a draw with 10 other folders all stamped with a red MIA across the first page. Opening each folder she took some time to survey how they all went missing in action and found out each of them had one thing in common -- all were planning to go to Mist.

"Does Mist have a hit out on anyone from the mainland?" she shook her head as she remembered that several families over the past year have went there safely for vacation and back without any problems what so ever.

"Even if they did why would they? They have their own problems and chose to keep themselves isolated as much as possible." She walked to a window and looked outside at Konoha. She knew that she needed answers and she needed them quickly if Mist was planning on attacking this village she wanted them to be as ready as possible.

"But how can I get my men over there when most ninja that went there have disappeared?" she ran a hand through her blonde hair and looked at the calendar.

"Winter Solstice is coming up and Mist seems to allow any and all visitors to visit them all that week." She said thinking back to the time when she used to travel and sighed. She missed her responsibility free lifestyle.

"Shizune!" she called out. A few seconds later her dark haired assistant came into the room shaking a little as if she knew Tsunade might still be mad at the information she brought her.

"Go get the brat and tell him I have a mission for him, also get-" she said two other names and watched her assistant nod and leave again going to deliver her message to a messenger.

She looked towards the desk and pulled out a folder that was the first in the ever growing pile**.** "Was your team the first victim of Mist's hitman? She put it back away and opened another draw with alcohol in it. She poured herself a cup and sighed. The life of a Hokage was stressful.

End of Chapter 1


	3. Chapter 2: The Mission

Changing Tides  
Chapter 2:  
_The Mission_

The kids played around forming groups and making games that no one outside their clique could understand. They were in their own world in the yard during their break time as one of the Sensei from the academy looked after them, to make sure none of them tried to repeat what they had learned in class today. Everything was normal, the sun was out and high in the sky, although somewhat hazy from the vantage point of the entire village, the air was chilly, and the children were laughing. The only things out of place were the dark eyes staring at the children in a protective manner like the one the Sensei at the door possessed.

Aikido clenched his hands against the gate as he watched them all play around. His eyes narrowed as he followed each and every one of their movements, expecting one of them to try something. In the back of his mind he knew what children were capable of, but he couldn't understand why he knew. After that encounter with the leaf ninja he seemed to be doing things out of the ordinary. Even though it was only last night, he felt his routine and views on everything changing slowly. He wouldn't have been there, watching these children, if he had never met that man he slaughtered so easily

For a second he could almost see himself in the other man's position as a teacher watching over the little ones. He could see himself chasing after the kids when the decided they could run from punishment. He could see himself laughing with them when they all thought something was funny. He could see himself scolding them when they decided not to listen to what he had to say. He almost felt the need to yell at them now for doing nothing out of the ordinary and show them that he was the one in control.

The longhaired man lifted a gloved hand to his temple and began to rub the throbbing vein in a futile attempt to soothe the oncoming headache. Closing dark brown eyes**,** he took several deep breaths. A girl yelled out as she did something she was proud to show off. His eyes snapped open and he glanced at her**,** letting his guard drop and just focused on what she wanted to show. Just a single second but that was all it took for one of the children.

A kid with black hair and blue eyes began to pull out something white from his sleeve and ripped it.

Before anyone had time to process what was going on**,** Aikido cleared the fence in a single jump. He sprinted towards the child he saw with the tag and began the mental process of a countdown. He knew he was going to make it when he reach the child at three**,** grabbing both pieces of the tattered paper and flinging them up into the air.

The Sensei on duty watched for a few seconds before running towards Aikido, and getting ready to curse out the other man. Several yards away from the other man, the sensei stopped walking and turned his head in the direction that Aikido was gazing in.

Aikido looked up towards the area where he tossed the explosive tag and waited a few seconds before it exploded**,** making a boom loud enough to catch the attention of the entire playground. When the children saw the child the adults were closing in on they shrugged and went back to doing what they were doing. The high ranked nin looked back towards the child that he took it from and gave him a stern look.

The child started shaking under the man's eyes and started backing up till he bumped into his Sensei. He turned around to see the other man's scornful gaze and shook even more as he was grabbed.

"Yuki! Where did you get that explosive tag?" The Sensei yelled as he shook the boy slightly**,** going over what could have happened if the higher-ranking nin hadn't interfered. Said boy didn't say anything and just shook his head and looked at the floor.

"Yuki**,** answer me." He said in a voice louder than a regular tone but not quite a yell as he bent slightly so he could look into the kid's eyes.

"I got it from my brother's room sensei. I didn't know what it was**.** I just want to show it off to my friends." He smiled up at his teacher as if praying that the smile would ease his punishment later.

"You should have left it where it was. What would have happened if Aikido hadn't come and you injured all you friends and maybe even your sister?" The older man began but was cut off as the child began to cry.

"I didn't mean anything by it, I just thought it would be cool to show off." He rubbed his eyes trying to clear tears away so he could see.

"What possessed you to rip it though? Didn't I show you in class what they could do? What am I going to tell your brother?" The Sensei began another rant talking to himself more than anyone else.

"Calm down Shin, I'm sure he meant no harm by it**.**" The Mist Ninja looked down to Yuki and gave him a comforting if cold smile that made him stop crying although he continued sniffling a little bit. "Did you**,** Yuki?" the boy shook his head. Shin just sighed at everything that was going on.

"Aikido!" a loud female voice screamed. He turned just in time to catch a hyperactive 10-year-old girl as she kept attempting to jump on him. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a big hug. Spinning her around once he put her on the floor and gave her a warm smile.

"Yari, how are you?" he asked the girl kneeling down so that he was staring into her blue eyes.

"I'm fine Aikido, did you come to school just to visit me?" she asked sweetly as she glanced around to see whom her sensei was talking to.

"Yuki!" she yelled and ran around Aikido to the boy and punched him in the arm. "What did you do now?"

"Nothing, nothing I swear" he said to the dark haired girl.

"Yari, did your older brother leave any explosive tags out?" Shin asked.

"No, he makes sure he locks everything up so we can't get into them."

Shin turned to Yuki and glared at him. "You are in so much trouble young man." Yuki winced and tried to back away. "Wait till your brother hears you were going throughout his things again and almost hurt yourself. I'm sure he'll enjoy that**.**"

Yari just sighed and glanced back at Aikido who seemed to be suppressing his laughter as much as he could. "Brothers." The 10 year old said as she rolled her eyes. "You never answered why you were here**,** Aikido**,** since you're not here to visit me**,**" she said as she crossed her small arms over her chest in a mock serious expression that had the man laughing out loud.

"I was just passing by when I saw your brother pulling out the tag." The man lied partially, as he scratched the back of his head. He was just passing by before he decided to watch them all for a little bit. He was supposed to be on his way to meet his uncle and train for a little while. He wondered why his uncle sent a messenger and didn't get him himself, but he had to remember his relative was the head of the village and he did have other duties besides trying to help him recover his past. The thoughts of his unknown past saddened him as he look up to the hazy sky.

"Kido**,**" Yari said softly and hugged the man. He looked so lost for a second that she wanted to do something to cheer him up. It was the same as when she was in the hospital to visit her older brother and happened to go into his room by accident. He just stared blankly at her and she did her best to get that blank look off his face by giving him one of the flowers she had picked for her brother. He looked lost for a second before he gave her a smile and his name**,** 'Aikido' or 'Kido' as she called him from time to time. She visited him for about 3 weeks before he left the hospital. They still saw each other from time to time but this was the first time she ever saw him at the academy.

"Did you bring me a present?" She asked**,** hugging him tighter to break him out of whatever trance he was in. He blinked a few times before looking down at her.

"Do you have a water bottle with you?" She nodded at the question and gave him the one she had in her pocket.

"Watch**,**" he said as he opened the bottle and waved a hand over it calling the water to come out. The Mist Nin attracted a crowd when he took the water bottle from the little girl and everyone began crowding around to see what he could do. He dropped the water bottle before bring his other hand to close it over the sphere he made. Opening the back up**,** the sphere was made out of ice before he molded it. A sound like ice cracking was heard while he reshaped the sphere into something else something suited for his young friend.

Satisfied with his work he handed her the ice rose. It was completely the same as a regular rose but this one held it's own beauty. It had a clear and thorn less stem while the petals were of a white color and as soft a newly fallen snow. The whole rose itself was smoking but instead of looking bad it added to the strange beauty of the figurine, making it look ethereal.

"Will this do for a present?" he asked, handing her the object. Her mouth was wide open as she clasped it in small hands. It didn't feel as cold as she thought it would. Yari clutched it to her chest and nodded enthusiastically to him. The kids all stared**,** amazed at what he made for their classmate before bombarding him with questions as he stood up**,** laughed and answered a few.

The salt and pepper haired man standing on the other side of the gate smiled as his nephew amused the kids. This was only a fraction of what he was capable of but no one needed to know that. He began to wonder if what he was doing was right, but knew he had no choice.

Theoceanbeginstochrundoesthatmeanthetidesarecomming

The blonde rolled over as the rays of sunlight touched his skin. He scrunched his face up before rolling again**,** muttering about it being to early and pulling the covers over his head. He hated getting up early because once he was up he could never go back to sleep. Tossing a few more times, he gave up on the valiant fight for more sleep.

Pulling off the covers Naruto stretched his arms**,** locking them over his head as he brought them as far back as he could without dislocating the bones. Yawning loudly he let his arms fall**s** to his side before removing his sleeping cap. He blinked a few times trying to remember what day it was before dropping his cap on the bed and setting out from the bedroom to the small kitchen.

Humming to himself he walked to the fridge and pulled out some ramen left over from yesterday's trip to Ichiraku's. Tossing it in the microwave he set the timer for two minutes. Moving to the bathroom he washed his face and brushed his teeth before he heard the microwave signal that it was done heating his food.

Moving back to the kitchen he put the heated food in a bowl before setting the ramen down in front of him and began to devour it faster then anyone else could do without years of practice. He got a message yesterday that he was to report to Tsunade's office at 9 o'clock in the morning. Slurping the last bit of broth he looked at the clock and almost choked on the liquid.

"Shit I'm late!" he screamed as he noticed it was a few minutes to nine.

Leaving his bowl on the table he sprinted back to his room where he rushed to get dressed. He grabbed a fishnet shirt off the floor and began putting it on while making his way towards the closet**,** glad that the shirt had holes he could see through. He pulled out black pants with thick orange stripes on the sides. Putting one leg into the pants he began to hop to his dresser**,** falling flat on his face when he tried to get the other leg in.

Grumbling**,** Naruto flipped over and pulled the pants up so they rested on his hips. Standing**,** he proceeded to the dresser where he found a jacket he had just gotten a few weeks ago that he hadn't worn yet. It was black with a giant orange swirl going clockwise on the back and two eclipsed suns on the arms. The trim of the entire jacket was in orange and he couldn't help but like it. Slipping on the jacket he zipped it up halfway before heading back into the bathroom.

Turning on the water he cupped a bit in his hands**,** dropping his head down low close to the sink and splashing water on it gently. He shifted his head back up and looked into the mirror**,** ruffling his hair and growling as it went back to being spiky.

Remembering his appointment**,** he ran out towards the front door looking for his keys. Not finding them he picked up his shoes and went to the nearest window. Opening it he climbed out and sat on the ledge looking down below, perching himself on the sill as he proceeded to put on his shoes. Hitting his shoes against the building**,** he was satisfied they were on tightly enough for his taste.

Jumping down he pulled the window close**,** landing on his feet and walking away without a single wince. He spun around while looking backwards to make sure that the window was closed before running down the street and jumping onto a building to his left.

He knew that this route would be faster than running down the street and he could already see the tower from his small apartment. A few people spotted him and waved to him as he ran along the rooftops. He smiled and waved back before continuing on his way. He wondered what kind of mission Tsunade could have for him. Nothing was in the message that he received last night except the time and that his two teammates would meet him in her office.

Grinning at the thought of a new mission**,** Naruto began to run faster to the tower. He couldn't remember the last time Tsunade assigned him a mission herself**,** she was usually too busy with one thing or another. The academy bell chimed and he began running faster as he was officially late. Looking towards the academy he stopped for a few seconds as he allowed memories of his years there to play before doubling his pace and going to the tower.

"Report now, remember later," he muttered to himself.

Theoceanbeginstochrundoesthatmeanthetidesarecomming

The blonde haired woman rested her chin on intertwined fingers as she gazed at the only occupant currently in her office. The only person who thought it was worth the effort to come at the time she assigned for a briefing. If anything the other occupant was someone who knew when to please a person who had more power than him, even if he only did it only to further his own goals in power. Light brown eyes gazed to dark almost black eyes that blinked when she looked into them and she smirked.

Sasuke did not like the look the Hokage held in her eyes. His arms were folded low on his chest as he sat on the windowsill in the room. One of his legs was bent, foot flat against the wall, while his other was swinging barely hitting the floor every few seconds. He ran a hand through his hair which was longer now than when he was younger and let out a sigh as he looked at the birds outside. He let himself watch the birds for no set amount of time just so he wouldn't have to face the woman at the desk.

He was surprised when he was informed to report to her office early this morning, as he was no longer a ninja on the active roster. Not that he was injured or anything, but just for the simple fact that neither she nor the rest of the village trusted him not to turn traitor again. That old-line "fool me once fool me twice" passed through suddenly and he shook his head trying to banish it from his thoughts.

"You know you're very, very pale," the soft yet stern voice said, causing Sasuke to face her again.

"I know." He said in a bored monotone as he again mentally asked why she wanted him here.

Tsunade shifted her head to the right hand and began to drum fingers on the desk rhythmically to a song Sasuke knew he never heard ofin his life. His attention shifted back to the window as birds flew to the ledge then away again.

"I swear-" the woman growled**,** her fingers stopping to claw at the desk in a bit of impatience. Sasuke watched and tensed up a bit ashe could see that she was not a very patient woman and it was already 9:15. In the message it said tobe on time or else and he could see that whom ever else she called here would be in big trouble as he watched her getting angrier as the seconds ticked by.

"I'm going to fucking-" she was cut off as the door to her office swung open and a blonde haired energy ball ran in.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The new male chanted hunching over hands pressed against his knees struggling to catch his breath.

"Naruto." The Hokage growled out between clenched teeth as her fingers dug into the desk. Today was not off to a good start for Tsunade, if her first briefing was going like this she just knew that the rest of the day was going to be hell for her. She felt a vein throb, as she got angrier at Naruto's late arrival, even he though he was never a person to arrive late like a certain silver haired man she also invited. He wasn't the first person to arrive but he also tended to make sure he was there on time; she supposed she could forgive him this once. Feeling the rage drain from her body she felt she was getting mad at nothing. Picking up the nearest object on her desk and flinging it at the other blonde she smiled as she watched him stumble back.

"Owww, what was that for Granny!" He yelled as the object smacked him directly in the middle of his head. Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle at the younger ninja.

"Call me 'Granny' again and I'll make sure to throw something harder." She threatened**,** feeling around her desk for something else to throw at the blonde if he dared to call her by that name again. She swore at times Naruto had no respect for his elders or superiors.

"Naruto." Sasuke spoke drawing the blonde's attention to himself.

"Sasuke!" he gasped before running over to his peer**.** "You're coming on this mission too? This is going it be awesome!" the blonde said hugging the avenger. Sasuke frowned for a second before hugging the blonde back. He was curious why the blonde was hugging him since they saw each other last night.

'But this will be our first mission together since I've been back**,**' he thought before pushing the blonde teen away from him**,** smirking slightly.

"So think you will mess this mission up like you always did when we were younger?" he teased.

Tsunade decided to make herself known again after the boys exchanged a few more words. Clearing her throat rather loudly she motioned for Naruto to stand in front of her desk.

"So**,**" She started**,** staring into blue eyes. "Care to tell me why you were so late to come here**,** brat?" the ninja fidgeted a little bit.

"Well**,**" he scratched the back of his head. "I was on my way up when I ran into Sakura**.**". Black eyes narrowed at the mention of the pink haired girl but only Tsunade noticed it.

"We kind of got lost track of time talking about what we've been up to since we rarely see each other now a days." He continued**,** unaware of the narrowed Uchiha's eyes. "She finally got sick of me and decided that she had to leave fast, only then did I remember I was supposed to meet you**,** Granny**,**" he finished.

"So let me get this straight," Tusnade moved to stand up, palms flat against the desk, as she began to lean forward over it, her anger starting to show again, "you thought it was more important to talk to my apprentice knowing that you were already late, especially when you got a message that told you to report to the damn Hokage's office at 9 am sharp this fucking morning?" she roared**,** causing the birds that were being watched so avidly moments before to scurry away. The addressed male nodded**,** turning slightly red in embarrassment.

The powerful woman slammed her fist against the desk. "Listen Naruto when you receive a summon from me even in the form of a message you damn well better make sure you get your ass here first. I'm the Hokage your leader**,** not my apprentice not Sasuke over there not some random person in the village me. Got it?"

"Yes Granny!" he as soon as she finished.

"Stop calling me Granny!" she bellowed, before sitting back in her chair and staring up at the ceiling. She knew she was going to have a headache soon. Rubbing her eyes softly she sighed and got ready to inform those two of what needed to be done knowing that the third member of their team probably wouldn't come until the briefing was over and she'd have to repeat herself again afterwards just so he could know the mission. She hated repeating herself almost as much as she hated gambling and losing. Gazing back down to the two people in front of her**, **she reached into a draw and pulled out a folder and tossed it on her desk.

"We've had several missing-" a popping sound followed by smoke stopped her from continuing as she got ready to defend herself if need be. No one was allowed to just teleport into her office and leave with their life still in tact. The door burst open as the ANBU guards felt the surge of charkra in the air and rushed forward to protect the village leader.

"Sorry am I too late?" the amused voice asked as the smoke cleared and revealed the masked silver haired man Tsunade was thinking about not long ago. He smiled behind his mask and scratched the back of his head walking a few feet so that he was right along side Naruto.

Waving her hand she dismissed her guards back to their post outside her office. Grabbing a paperweight off her desk she flung it at the jounin and wasn't surprised when he dodge it just by tilting his head and having it smash against the wall.

"Lady Tsunade, am I that late that it calls for such violence already?" He grinned under the mask at the blonde woman, as he knew that he was already on her bad side for being late.

"Well I should be honored you'renot as late as you usually are." She muttered under hear breath although he heard her clearly.

"Oh, but you see I have a good story why I was late today. I was-"

"Save it for another time Kakashi**,**" she interrupted**,** just wanting to get this briefing over as fast as possible so she could kick everyone out her office anddrink a quick cup or two of sake. Just the thought of the alcohol that was in her desk drawer was enough to make her forget everything for a second and begin to reach down towards the bottle. Stopping herself she sighed and decided to get this over with as quick as she could.

"Well I should thank you for gracing us with your presence, I won't need to go over this again just for you later." She opened the folder on the desk. "I have sent more than half a dozen ninja on surveillance missions to Kiriga because we have had no contact with them in the past few years. Usually this would pose no problem for most ninja, but everyone I have sent into The Land of Water has never been seen again." She turned the folder around and pushed it towards the three occupants so they could see the contents.

"Iruka-sensei was on a mission to water and never came back?" Naruto said in a somewhat yell somewhat whispered voice as he thought of his ex-sensei.

"More than that Naruto, it seems that a lot of disappearances have been happening after him and his team went missing or died. I can't seem to get any ninja back from around Mist's border with anything important and those few families that travel to Mist aren't even worth the time to try and get any information from."

"So you want us to go and find out what has been happening to all those ninjas?" Sasuke spoke up.

"More than that Sasuke**, **I want you to gather any information about what is going on in Kiriga as well. Is there an attack on Konoha being planned? Is there something going on? Are they planning a war? Is Konoha going to have another invasion of ninjas soon? I want these questions answered and I want to know why all those ninja have never come back. I want to know if they are dead or not, at the moment they just seemed to have just vanished, even their contacts seem to be disappearing**,** only the ones who stay out of water in general seem to make it out alive but you know how that breaks down communication."

"So you think there might be a warrant for any leaf ninja?" Kakashi questioned.

"Seems like there is one with all the missing ninja." She answered**.**

"So how do you want us to get in their country, granny?" Naruto questioned this time.

"What did I say about calling me granny, Brat!" she fumed. "There is going to be a festival for them soon**;** this will probably be the best time to get any kind of information we need from there since they don't turn away anyone at this time."

"Why would Kiriga open its gates to anyone if it's supposed to be a hidden village" Naruto asked.

"The Village Hidden in the Mist is probably one of the hardest Villages to find. It's always in the same spot yet it always moves at the same time. It's very hard to explain but, they are more capable of allowing people into their village and them never finding it again than we are." She sighed for a second and put a hand on her chin looking thoughtful. "I once heard a ninja from Mist say they have a lullaby that tells their young and some of the villagers how to find the village again but no one understands it unless you are from there."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed embarrassed**,** "I don't get it but what ever." He smiled.

"You never get anything you idiot." Sasuke said to himself.

"What was that you bastard?" Naruto yelled turning his eyes to the brunette and making a fist like he was getting ready to do something.

Kakashi's eye formed a crescent as he watched the two bickering teens. It was times like these when he would remember how they acted when he was their instructor and how they never really changed when around each other.

"Quiet!" Tsunade roared in order to get things back under control before things really got out of hand with the two boys.

At the loud exclamation both of them turned toward her and had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. They settled their dispute for now as Naruto shot Sasuke a look that clearly showed that their argument wasn't over by a long shot.

"Now that you two are done, you are to start heading over to Water Country and infiltrate Kiriga as soon as possible."

"Wait a second Granny wouldn't this be a better operation for ANBU?" Naruto questioned.

"Waste of recourses since we don't know what exactly we are looking for or dealing with. If we knew something, anything, I wouldn't hesitate to send them."

"So you're using us as guinea pigs." Sasuke commented.

"Well what better way to serve your village than by doing what ninja's are supposed to do Sasuke?" Kakashi teased.

"Whatever." He replied back.

"Well Sasuke put it this way**,**" Tsunade paused**,** opening a draw and pulling out a Leaf headband. "If you come back after this mission with everything I asked of you and your team and prove your loyalty, I will reinstate your Ninja status."

Sasuke could really care less about being a ninja again he had already fulfilled his goal of killing Itachi. His only goal left was to start a new Uchiha clan but he was having doubts about that. He shrugged his shoulders and stared into the older woman's eyes.

"Whatever." he said again, carelessly.

"My, my, don't jump up and down with joy," was the witty response from the woman.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and moved to get up and leave the room.

"Who said you could go brat?"

"Well I thought that we only needed to know what the mission was and that's it. So it seems like there is no more reason for me to be here." He walked out the door without another word.

"Is that all there is Granny?" Naruto questioned the kage and left as she nodded.

"So why did you want me to go on this mission? Seems like there are other who are more capable of surveillance then I am." Kakashi asked standing in front of her.

"You saw the reason when you first entered." She muttered and moved to the lowest draw to get her bottle of sake.

"So you want me to watch over Saskue and make sure he doesn't turn rogue again**,** ey?" he questioned as he looked out the door to see if the two occupants were somewhere within hearing range.

"Few shinobi are more powerful than he is, I want him to become a leaf nin again, and without the Uchiha's we seem to be at a partial loss of power in this village." She stated pouring herself a cup of the drink.

"Is that all?" she nodded at him, as she seemed to inhale the cup. A grin plastered onto her face as she dismissed him.

End of Chapter 2


	4. Chapter 3: Reflections That Lie

Changing Tides

_Chapter 3: Reflections That Lie_

Aikido walked towards the school gates laughing at the children who hooted and hollered about his amazing skills. The closer he walked to the gate the more he felt the presence of someone who wasn't hiding their charka so he didn't feel threatened, although he knew that they weren't allowing all of it to be felt out into the open. It was stronger than most people's around here but weak enough not to be seen as an attack on anyone.

"I wondered when you would get here uncle." Aikido said, never pausing as he walked forward out of the gate as the relative pushed himself off the wall and took several long strides, catching up to the other easily.

"I was curious where you were. I sent Yoshi to retrieve you not long ago or did you forget that." He said in a voice that Aikido just knew would mean pain for him in a few minutes when they began to spar. The younger man said nothing as he looked back at the academy, a thoughtful look on his face as he turned back around to watch his path.

"Do you know anything about what I used to do?" Aikido asked, turning a corner as they headed to the furthest reaches of the village where there was more water and less chance that either of them could do damage to the village when they got more into their fight and began to actually try and kill the other.

"Haven't we been through this already?" the older man said, running a hand through his short salt and pepper hair. "I don't know anything about you at all; your mother kept you a secret from me and the rest of our family." He paused for a second in his speech as he shook his head at the thought of this sister. "You are my family, still, the blood running through your veins and your water abilities are proof of that enough. You also know that your skills as a ninja were as sharp as my best ANBU, even before we began training." The Mizukage laughed to himself. "Although constantly training with me seems to have sharpened those skills you already had, memory or not."

The kage put a firm hand onto his nephew's shoulder making him stop. Aikido turned to look at the man who looked like he had something important to say. When he spoke again it was barely audible even to Aikido who was only an arm's length away from his uncle. "I already told you some of my ninja found you not far from this village with no identification on where you could have been from." The man said a he took his left hand off Aikido's shoulder and slammed his right fist into Aikido's abs delivering a blow to the stomach.

Aikido hunched over clutching his stomach for a second and winced as he struggled to breathe. It was a punch meant to knock the wind out of him, nothing more and nothing less. When he turned to look at the spot the gray haired man was at he saw nothing but a falling robe and crouched down to the floor in a fighting position.

A wave of water surged towards him and he shielded his face with his forearms, before using his will and made the water split around him instead of going over him. He stopped the water from moving forward and it froze in midair for a few seconds before falling to the ground harmlessly. The young man knew that wasn't a real attack as it was just a setup and trying to get on his nerves.

His hands formed seals before a portion of the water rose up and made a clone of him. Dark eyes that matched his own looked into his before nodding and making a few hands seals, then disappearing in a transportation jutsu. Now all Aikido had to do was wait. The game of cat and mouse was about to begin and he refused to be the mouse.

An ice sickle came towards him and he strafed effortlessly to his right, as it shattered against a nearby tree. Jumping towards the area where the attack came from, he prepared himself. Seeing a shadow to the left he dashed towards it, before he was able to reach the point though he was kicked from out of the air. Spinning, Aikido twisted in the air and landed on his feet, eyes narrowed at the area where his attack was from. He nodded his head in the direction.

He felt a spike of chakra from the position where he nodded at and saw a body flying towards him. Jumping towards it he jumped and kicked the man in the side, sending him crashing to the ground. Sprinting towards the grounded man he proceeded to deliver several punches to the chest, finishing with a hard kick.

The other already saw his attacks coming and proceeded to block the punches but failed to do the same for the kick. The kick sent him back a few feet into the water that was already on the ground. Bringing his hands up then spinning them around his head once, the water already on the ground followed his command, rising and spinning around his body. He made a motion towards Aikido and the water began rushing towards the younger opponent.

Aikido expected this and leaped forward, jumping into the air and solidifying the water as he ran along it and towards the old man. Before he could reach him he felt the pathway he created begin to turn back into water and he jumped off hoping to close the gap. Twisting in a flip, he landed behind the other. A stream of water rose up and became ice as he pressed the tip of his frozen weapon against the others spine.

"Looks like I win this time, uncle." He moved the blade forward a bit and knew it bit into the older man's skin.

"Do you really think so?" he questioned in a light teasing, his arms just dropping down to his sides the water still moving around his feet waiting for a command of any kind.

Aikido felt an arm encircle him and an ice-cold blade against his neck. He knew what that meant-- the Mizukage had made a clone earlier but he wasn't sure when. The clone he held the blade against to liquefied and then fell into the puddle that was at its feet.

The Kage pressed the blade deeper into Aikido's neck and expected to see his blood flowing any second. The younger man wasn't putting up any resistance and seemed to want to die but the Mizukage didn't want to kill him only to teach him a little lesson about fighting. Digging the blade into the young mans neck he was startled or perhaps not as startled as he burst into water.

A surge of water hit the kage and he glared where it came from. Getting up off the floor he formed hand seals and more then a dozen kunai formed and began to float, moving till they began to encircle him. They floated around the kage before he made another set of seals. More kunai formed till there were dozens hovering around him waiting for his command.

Looking around the kage tried to spot Aikido so that he could release his attack on him. Hearing a sound he turned around and focused on just where he heard that sound. Seeing the nin he moved his hands and formed new seals.

"Kunai storm," he whispered. After he said that all of the kunai became erect and they pointed in the direction that the old man was facing. The kunais left their position and sped at a blinding speed towards Aikido. Before they made impact the kage saw a gleam of light and knew that his attack would have no effect. The first kunai was about an inch away from Aikido when he just vanished and the blade crashed into something solid, becoming harmless dust as it fell to the floor. The massive amount of ice kunai didn't seem to graze the surface at all and they all vanished as they broke into shards of ice and dust falling harmlessly to the floor and forming a puddle on the ground as they returned to their liquid form.

The Mizukage clenched his jaw at the extensive waste of his chakra on his technique.

In a nearby tree Aikido laughed to himself as the man's attack was wasted. A simple trick was all it took for the water to form a mirror and projecting his image there. There was more to that mirror then what met the eye but he didn't want to use that attack as it would waste too much chakra and this was not a life or death situation.

Aikido stared at the Mizukage and blinked once then twice and then the man was gone, replaced by a woman with long hair. The hair was braided and reached down to her waist. She had kind eyes and was laughing at something. Her eyes were soft but you could tell that she was no push over. She turned towards Aikido and their eyes meet and he felt safe when he looked at her.

Aikido felt the air leave his body as he was brutally kicked out of his hiding place. He looked towards the mirrors he set up as a decoy and saw that they were all shattering, bits and pieces of the ice falling to the floor and converting back into water due to his lack of concentration. Aikido fell to the ground hard and stared up at the sky.

'What is wrong with me?' he thought as he watched clouds pass by. He was not one to lose concentration when fighting in any sense of the word but for some reason he couldn't seem to concentrate as of late.

'Who could that woman be?' He thought again as he felt a droplet of rain land on his face. The white clouds he was looking at not to long ago were now becoming gray. It was about to rain and he was doing nothing but watching the sky and wondering who she could be. He knew her yet for some reason he couldn't recall who she could be.

A shadow fell across him and he stared up to meet eyes the same hue as the woman in his daydream. The only reason he lost this spar.

"You let your guard down." The man said in a simple statement, his own shirt starting to become a bit damp from the rain as it began to pick up speed and drop down.

"I saw something." Aikido said simply as he continued staring at the sky. He didn't want to move at the moment he just wanted to stare at the rain and watch it pour down onto the earth. It was a serene setting which he always loved to observe but hasn't been able to do recently.

"What did you see?" The kage said as he held out an arm, water began to circle around his body slowly. It took shape at his legs slowly going up his back until the white kage cloak appeared on his body. In his hand a ball of water formed before it expanded and formed the matching white hat. He placed it on his head and looked at the younger man who didn't seem to want to get out of the rain yet.

"A woman," he trailed off as he closed his eyes as the rain pelted him. He opened his eyes to stare at those eyes again that reminded him of that woman he just saw in that dream not so long ago. "Who had eyes like yours."

The kage looked at his nephew in a manner that was between shock and curiosity. He knew that his nephew saw a vision of his twin, Aikido's mother, and questioned what that meant. The kage couldn't help but wonder was his memory coming back or was it just a fleeting thought that occurred at the moment.

"Katara," the Mizukage said aloud to himself.

"My lord!" said a man appearing on the side of the Mizukage. He wore a completely black outfit, arms barred showing a swirling blue ANBU tattoo. His face was covered in an odd porcelain mask, which seemed to be missing chunks and falling apart in places, yet oddly enough it did not show an ounce of his face.

"What is the problem Urchin?" The man said to his subordinate.

"You're needed at the tower immediately," he said, looking away from the kage who he knew would punish him for this interruption later.

The Mizukage narrowed his eyes; all his guard knew better than to come interrupt him when he was sparing with Aikido so it must be something big. He raised his arm and water pooled around Urchin's body encasing him in ice.

"If it's not important there will be hell to pay and your life will be the price." Urchin cowered in fear, unable to get out of the ice prison. The Mizukage looked to Aikido briefly before he disappeared in a flurry of water and ice teleporting to the Hokage tower. The ice containing Urchin was released and he stumbled for a few seconds.

Urchin narrowed his eyes at the Mizukage's nephew who seemed to be getting all of the kage's attention and none of his anger. Rage welled up in him as he thought of the person who came into the village just two years ago just became the Mizukage's favorite person in the world. Urchin sneered at the man before teleporting back to the tower himself.

Aikido, oblivious to everything, kept his eyes closed and let the rain pour onto his face as memories began take over him. Lost memories of summer rains and the smell of a forest after a light shower...

_Iwillchangethetidesofdestinynomaterwhat_

Time was a set event. Minutes turned to hours. Hours turned to days. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to years. It was something that could not be changed no matter what anyone tried to do or how much you tired to stop it. Even if you were to shut out the world, time wouldn't stop the same way that destiny couldn't be changed.

Kakashi wasn't someone who believed in destiny or fate or anything of the sort but he did believe that no matter what happened it was going to happen. So to a sense he did believe in it although he never thought so strongly on the words associated with it.

He was going to be late to meet up with Sasuke and Naruto but he wasn't as apt at caring about it, as he should be. The clock on the mission was ticking but, was it ticking to Konoha's attack or was it ticking for another reason? If an attack on Konoha was going to happen it would happen, although this mission seemed to be attempting to try and get themselves as ready as they could for a counter attack.

"I'm leaving today to go to Kiriga," the copy nin muttered to the cold gray stone from his perch on top of it. His routine every time he was going to go on a mission was coming here. He had to say his goodbye because it might be his last.

"The Land of Water… you know I haven't been there since that one time 3 years ago." Kakashi smiled to himself, as his one visible eye seemed to gloss over, as he was lost in a memory.

"I remember going there when we were younger Obito, do you remember?" he asked as he jumped down, turning to face the stone. "You know that time we had to collect starfish that was only found in The Land of Water." Kakashi laughed softy at the memory.

"I remember you chasing Rin down the beach with a jelly fish. She was so mad at you for that she didn't talk to you for weeks after we came back. I still think she resents you for that even now." Kakashi turned to his right to look at another corner of the memorial stone.

"Do you Rin?" he didn't wait for a response and let his head fall down his shoulders, shook for a second before he looked up pulling his fragile psyche back together.

"Guess I should get going before they come looking for me ey?" the question was left hanging in the air as he made sure his headband and mask were firmly in place as he began walking to the gates that would lead to the outside of Konoha

Walking from the area that contained the memorial stone he felt a cold gust of wind. Turning back he saw a single snowflake fall onto the memorial stone. It landed on top then disappeared just as quickly as it came.

"I understand," was all as he left the area entering the streets of the city. Putting one hand in his pocket Kakashi took out his orange icha icha book and began to read. He walked at a slow leisurely pace. He knew that he should be rushing to meet his teammates but it was such a nice day outside and he wanted to bask in the warmth of the setting sun for a few more moments.

The streets were littered with people and children who greeted him politely. Once in a while a random child ninja or not would come over to him and ask him a few questions. If their parents were there they'd come rushing over grabbing their kid and apologizing profusely for the lack of manners their child displayed. If he had his book open like he did now those same children would ask him what he was reading only to have their parent snatch them up and say they'll find out when they were older. This always made him laugh silently to himself as he walked off. It was at times like this Kakashi hated going on missions; he enjoyed this town and the antics of the people when they saw him. Although he lived here for all his life they tended to change every time they saw him.

Seeing his comrades at the gate waiting for him he put away his book and stealthily snuck over to the two young men who seemed to be having an animated conversation.

"I still can't believe he's late again," Naruto muttered, clenching and unclenching his fist in impatience on wanting to get this mission started.

"You've been around him how long and expect him to change?" Sasuke said coldly to the blonde, looking at the gates that led to the forest surrounding the village.

"People change!" Naruto yelled.

"Not everyone changes." Sasuke stated still in his usual cold and uncaring voice.

"You changed!" Naruto hissed at Sasuke watching him turn around. A younger Sasuke would have glared and yelled back. The older version just shrugged the comment off and kept staring at the gates knowing that what the blonde said was partially true.

Kakashi, deciding that he didn't want to hear anymore of this conversation used a teleportation jutsu to appear right behind Naruto.

"Yo." The silver haired man said.

Surprised at the sound the blue-eyed boy turned to deliver a punch only to have it dodged by Kakashi easily.

"Your late." Naruto said in a soft voice not like his usual self at all. Sasuke turned to stare at the jounin as well.

"Ah, well you see I was watching a snowflake fall," the man stated simply, smiling behind his black mask at the blonde boy, knowing what his reaction would be.

"Liar!" Naruto yelled and threw another punch at Kakashi only to have him side step it and laugh happily, his memories of lighter days with these two and their female companion coming back to him.

"It doesn't snow in Konoha." Sasuke said simply, uncrossing his arms and walking towards the two.

"You're wrong Sasuke; it does snow just because you don't see it doesn't mean there isn't any snow." Kakashi said simply.

"You contradicted yourself." Sasuke muttered, walking to the gates and picking up one of the three traveling packs resting against the wall.

"Contra-what?" Naruto said, going to pick up one of the other packs.

"Nothing." Sasuke tried to end the conversation.

"It has to mean something if you said it bastard." Naruto growled out, left hand clenching on the pack and the other balling into a fist.

"Now, now." Kakashi interrupted. "No need to get into a fight over nothing now." He went over to the wall and picked up the last pack. "It's sunset and we have a long way to go before we can rest." Kakashi began to head for the gates walking outside and waving to the guards. Naruto followed shortly after with Sasuke coming up in the rear, face impassive as always.

Kakashi nodded once and crouched down and began to hop into the trees, speeding quickly through the branches, the blonde and the brunette boys not far behind him. He changed his direction for the port town, on the outskirts of Konoha's borders. The only common thought racing through all their minds was 'What awaits us in The Land Water?'

_Iwillchangethetidesofdestinynomaterrwhat_

Aikido walked into the house looking haggard. Water was running into his face and pouring off his body, making a wet trail where he treaded. He was slumped over, looking half unconscious as if he had just came from a long battle, but it was far from that, he let himself stay in the rain, which kept pouring even now as he entered the house. He left the door open knowing no one in his or her right mind would dare enter this place unannounced.

'What's wrong with me?' Aikido muttered to himself, shaking in fear and looking at his right hand. The memories that assaulted him were not current or anything he could remember and that was what seemed to scare him. The scenes that were still dancing around in his mind were not helping at all. They gave him no clue about where he was from or what he could have been doing before his life here. It was just a giant blank.

"Fuck!" he yelled, slamming a fist into a near by wall, causing a large hole to form. The memories in his head, if they could even be called so, did nothing else but confuse him. No faces, no names, just scenes of a forest and a rainstorm. The only consistent thing was that woman who appeared in about few of his memories, but never stayed long enough for him to really try and figure out who she was. He felt like if he could reach out a little more he could figure it out but he couldn't seem to figure out that last piece. Aikido took his fist from the well and looked at the damage he had done to his body.

Aikido growled, the water that was pooling at his feet solidified with his anger. It began reacting to him, moving around him in an enticingly deadly dance. It was just waiting for a kill command from its master to show how deadly it could be.

Sighing, his shoulders slumped as he surveyed the damage to his fist. The water that was moving rapidly solidifying and liquefying began to placate as its master lost all the anger in his system.

Walking up the stairs Aikido left a trail of water and mud on his way up to the shower. Living with the Mizukage taught him one thing. The hours were very erratic. So for the most part his uncle gave him the house to do what ever he wanted to with it. Not that there was anything for him to do. He sent a glare through a wall where he felt the charka of a nearby ANBU who was most likely watching him to see if he tried anything dangerous.

'Fools.' Aikido thought. If he really wanted to do something did they really think they could stop him from doing it? The Mizukage pretty much gave him permission to do what ever he wanted in the village seeing him not as a threat but as an ally. Sadly the rest of the village didn't see him the same way. Few were accepting of him after his stay in the village for the past few months, but they still watched him from the corner of their eyes. He knew they were watching him by instinct maybe it was something he developed when he was younger.

"Younger," he whispered. He wanted his memories back soon. He wanted to know about his childhood and who that damn woman was. He wanted to have that piece of himself that was missing. Then again he was ready to try and start his life over from his current age, although that seemed to prove difficult because of the fact that those memories seemed to be coming in waves recently. A little more then a year of nothing about his past and now he couldn't seem to stop them from coming at all.

Toeing off his shoes Aikido kicked them to a corner of the bathroom, and mud flung around the room, staining the tiled blue walls. Next to go was the headband he kept wrapped around his neck. It fell easily to the floor with a loud thunck sound as the metal plate crashed into the ground. Taking off his fishnet shirt, he exposed the scars all across his arms with a few fresher ones across his biceps still red and reopening every time the muscle in the arms were used. He let the black shirt drop to the floor, revealing a long jagged scar that took up residence in the middle of his back. The shape was that of a disfigured x.

Aikido walked to the mirror; turning his back to it he bent his arm at an odd angle, running his fingers lightly up and down the scarred skin. It was an old wound--he had it even before he could remember being in this village and at times it would start to hurt. It looked like what ever caused the scar didn't puncture his spinal cord at all. He didn't feel sluggish and beside the time when it hurt for no apparent reason it didn't seem to affect his skills at all.

Dropping his arm to his side he walked to the shower and began to run the water. Dropping his pants and boxers down to the floor in one quick swipe he stepped into the cubicle.

Dirt and grime began to wash off his body, turning the water a dark brown color. Aikido sighed at the dirt before grabbing a bottle of shampoo from the side of the shower. Running hands through thick brown locks, he let the water wash over and relax him. For once in the entire day he didn't let any memories of what he didn't know course through his head.

Reaching to turn off the shower when he was finished with it he saw red on his hands. Holding his palms up he noticed that they were blood stained. To a normal ninja this wouldn't be a big deal at all, but Aikido didn't kill anyone with his bare hands at all today. When he killed that leaf shinobi he made sure to scrub himself thoroughly, when he was done his skin was raw and clean and had no lingering trace of what he did to the man left on him. How could he have blood stained hands now?

Looking up at the showerhead he noticed that it was no longer spewing water, it seemed to be running blood instead. Looking down to the floor he saw that he was no longer watching water pour down the drain but he was instead watching blood. It was thick and smelled heavy and a few droplets got into his mouth and he noticed that it had the same copper taste that blood tends to have. Aikido pressed a hand against the wall and rested his head against the tiled surface.

'It's nothing,' he told himself, whispering that mantra to himself over and over. It had to be a genjutsu--there was no way he was going insane was there?

Aikido took several deep breaths and again looked up only to notice the blood dripping off his body and from the showerhead. Any normal person would have ran out of the shower as soon as the first droplet of blood poured onto them, but Aikido didn't fear blood and didn't want to start to develop a fear now so he stayed.

Aikido's eyes began to glaze over, his arm tense against the tile and his head dropped down low.

_Enemies surrounded him or so he believe__d,__ he was topless__,__ he felt sluggish and he seemed to be backed into a corner. The enemies tossed a head to his feet and he seemed to be shocked that they would do something like that to his comrades. Fear wasn't the emotion he seemed to be__,__ the emotion he was feeling at the moment it was pure rage. How dare these enemies ambush him and kill his allies. He just wanted to get back to his hometown and finish the schoolwork for the coming semester._

_Aikido licked his lips, although he did want to try a new jutsu and it looked like now would be the opportunity. Clutching his arm in pain he fell to one knee as the rain fell heavily hitting his face. The enemies began to close in on him and he knew he had to use it or else it could cost him his life._

_Letting go of his arm he brought them both to his stomach and made seals. The throbbing pain in his arm a distant memory as he began to rapidly form the seals for a unknown attack. It was going to take up the last of his chakra to keep it up but at the moment this was his only chance. An image of that same woman who happened to appear in a lot of his memories appeared before him forming seals as if guiding him. Simultaneously his deep voice and her light voice a soft whisper on the wind. _

"_Ice Storm__.__" The world seemed to get colder as those words were uttered__.__She__ smiled at him softly before fading away quickly. The rain seemed to cease in it's movements before pouring down harder, but this time it wasn't soft and delicate all around the rain was hammering down harder making imprints into the dirt. It was as if the rain it's self became hail. The three ninja grunted as several droplets of now falling ice shards hit them harshly._

_One of the Nin grunted as a piece of the ice sliced his arm. He stared at it for a few seconds before a new cut appeared on the other arm the ice raining from the sky tearing up their bodies quickly and painfully._

"_What is this?" one yelled who seemed to be growing bloodier by the second. Every few seconds he seemed to be gaining more of those shallow wounds and leaking more and more of the crimson fluid. _

_Aikido felt his charka reservoirs running low as he kept up the attack. Controlling a natural element to the extent he was even with his blood limit was a tiring experience. He was already weak from the poison in his system and he knew that he didn't have much time left before the attack would cease and they would attack him again, so he made his choice, he would go out fighting. _

_Sprinting at the nearest one he grabbed their arm and made a one-hand seal__,__ pulling it as far back as he could. The rain focused for a second before a large amount of water fell toward the man's arm. A sick cracking sound was heard followed by a scream as the __man's__ arm was broken by a large piece of hail. The arm fell limply to the man's side as Aikido let the arm go. Moving to the neck Aikido grabbed at the weapons pouch__,__ pulling out a kunai and imbedding it in that Nin's throat._

_The other two Nin were so busy fighting off and trying to figure out what was with the rain that they let their comrade be killed. When they heard the blood-curdling scream they turned just in __time__ to watch him get a kunai to the neck. As their comrade was falling back dead they forgot about the rain and began to attack the brown haired man._

_Finding strength__,__ Aikido ducked an attack by ducking then rolling to the left. The blood loss seemed to be getting to one of them as he was moving slower and becoming pale as time went on. A jagged piece of ice landed in his shoulder blade and Aikido took that moment when he wince to reach back into the borrowed pouch __to__ draw out another kunai. Launching it at that __man's__ head, the weapon embedded itself in his forehead. The man stood no chance as his eyes went blank and he fell back._

_The last remaining Nin ran towards Aikido and tried to punch him with his right first. Aikido moved to the side and kicked him in the side. A blade of ice cutting the man across the arm as he stumbled forward, he turned around just to get a boot to the face. The man head spun as he dropped to his knees when the two blades of ice cut the tendon at the back of the man's foot. He yelped in pain before drawing out a blade._

_  
Aikido__,__ not noticing him drawing __a__ weapon__,__ moved slowly to the front of the other nin. Eyes staring intently at the person he had to kill to keep this secret. When Aikido reached the man's front a blade was thrust forward into his chest. _

_Aikido__,__ shocked__,__ grabbed the blade as the water on the floor reacted violently__,__ surging forward to kill the last remaining enemy without his command. Grasping the blade in his gut he clenched his teeth and pulled the blade out slowly. He knew that it was bad to pull weapons out of a wound but he had to treat it before it became even more infected._

_Stumbling back Aikido crashed into the trunk of a tree sliding down it. The rain began to soften as his chakra reserves finally died and he could no longer hold up the jutsu. Looking up he saw figures in the edge of his vision that he couldn't make out anymore. He just needed a few moments of rest then he'd get up and treat his wounds. _

"_Just a few moments." He whispered softly, to no one but the wind. As if reassuring it he would get up soon._

_He fell forward into a pool of water and his own blood, unconscious. _

His breathing was slow and he was starting to shiver, but the blood he saw before those images came to him was gone. Nothing seems to have changed except the fact that the hot water ran out and he was in freezing cold water.

Drawing back the curtain he got out the shower, grabbing a blue towel off the rack. Toweling off his body then his hair he spared a glance at the mirror where he saw an image of himself that wasn't himself at the same time. This image was slightly bulkier; the hair was shorter and there were less cuts, bruises, and scars over the body but generally it was an image of himself if he saw one.

Stopping what he was doing he walked over the mirror and stared at him. The reflection that wasn't his reflection stared at him or rather his reflection before going about what it was doing. The other one's torso was heavily bandaged and he was slowly peeling away the bandages. His hair was a little past his shoulders which was awkward since Aikido's hair was much closer to the middle of his back.

The other took off the bandages and it revealed the long disfigured scar on his back. This one was fresh, the bandages clinging to the skin as Aikido's other self was taking it off. The mark was red as bits and pieces of the wound were coming off, scabbing slightly, but now disturbed by the removing of the bandages. The man turned around showing his full back to the mirror.

Aikido saw the scar was fresh but he already know that. This scar matched the one on his back completely except this one was new and fresh as if he just got it. His own throbbed painfully as if it was just inflicted and he winced partially as if he knew what caused it. He looked at the man again; everything about them was the same. Was this an image of his past self?

'Could this be me?' Aikido questioned mentally and nodded, as he knew that it was probably true. The other version of himself ran the water and began shaking before he started crying.

Aikido was appalled and he growled angrily at the image before driving a blade of ice through it. The shards of the mirror fell to the floor, breaking into even more pieces. Aikido refused to believe that the image he saw was himself, he wasn't that weak to cry over something as trivial as a wound to the back. He turned and walked away from the room, wrapping the towel around his waist trying to forget about the image he saw in the mirror.

Outside, the rain finally stopped.

End of Chapter 3


	5. Chapter 4: Loyality

Changing Tides

Chapter 4: Loyalty

Kato was not a complex person. He liked the color blue and had a quick temper that he tried to suppress. He loved to look at the village as the morning mist rolled across it. He was someone who valued his family among anything else, although his family was reduced down to him and his nephew. He was the middle child his older twin sister beating him in birth by 5 minutes and their younger sister by 5 years. He was a normal man who valued simple things, although the oldest Umino alive was far from normal in the eyes of the Village.

This was his birth right while not completely being his birth right, he was the man chosen to take up the mantle of Mizukage, although it was because his sister left. Katara, his twin, was the one chosen by their father to succeed the village not him. He wished that she didn't run away at the age of twelve due to the shady dealings going on in the village that their father oversaw. Killing people for no reason was never her way and killing people that she grew to care about seemed to be her excuse for leaving the village. She was the prodigy, not him. She was able to do things with the blood limit that their father could never do as well as those who were the Kage before him. His dad was only the 3rd in the lines of Umino's to take over the village.

His sister Kana wasn't thought about and was often neglected by their father especially when Katara left the village and his old man decided it was a good idea to focus all his attention on teaching the other twin. The one who was lucky enough to be born, the one who was the twin of the prodigy. If Kato was one thing he was persistent. After his father began to train him he did nothing else but train on his own and rise in power. Not to the level his sister was at or going to be at but, enough to surpass all the ANBU. His father was also proud of him; the only people who weren't were the two he cared most about-- his sisters. One having vanished; he knew he could never get her approval, but Kana just kind of shut herself off till 16 when she got married and decided that she wouldn't be a part of this village anymore. She was never heard of again.

Kato sighed and tried to focus on what those old fools were talking about in front of him but his mind kept wondering. The emergency he was called for was not worth the time-- he would just send his best ANBU to take care of the problem. But these elders seemed to want to go over his decision because of the holiday coming up they wanted the ANBU and hunter nin for this week just to protect the village from those ninja who would masquerade as tourist just to infiltrate the village and maybe attack from the inside. Kato knew that no one was going to attack, but they seemed to be very concerned about infiltration. With his experience of a little less then two decades they still had no faith in his ability to lead the village.

"Lord Mizukage are you even listening," a shrill cry from the female leader of the Wasabi family. She was in her 70s, hair braided and tied up in a bun on her head as she stood up, hands pressed against the table. Her lips were drawn in a thin line as she directed angry eyes to the man in his early 50s.

Kato lifted his head up from his hand and turned his head back to its rightful position before glaring at her.

"If I wasn't?" he tempted her knowing that she would back down. She was always someone to start something but one person challenging her and she would scurry back to the corner of elders hoping another one of the other 8 people would take her side and insert an opinion for her. This tactic always seemed to work since she was never alone in her thoughts. The other elders kept quiet for once, knowing that she was in the wrong for the tone of her voice. They knew he knew best but she still chose to argue.

"We should leave the Anbu here no matter how great a threat is lurking right outside the village," a 30 year old man from the Kenshi family said. He was by far the youngest one here due to their family dying at 42 years of age; anyone born to that particular family grew blind by 35, deaf by 40, and died from a mysterious illness at 42. The family was powerful in those years. They were among the most powerful this village had ever seen. They tended to have multiple kids just to make sure the clan didn't die out when they reached 42 years of age. Shaggy red hear hung in the man's face as he looked towards the Kage.

"Why, we have more than enough forces as I stated earlier," the Kage responded tired of giving him the same answer, growing bored of the meeting.

"We know you stated that a few times that they will be back in time but we can't take that chance."

The Mizukage grabbed the top of his hat and pulled it done over his eyes in a semi frustrated and semi tired kind of motion. Lifting his hat back up he glared at the man.

"My decision is final!" he stated, wanting to put an end to the conversation and the meeting that he seemed to be losing more and more control of as time dragged on.

"It can't be over!" A woman from the Masami clan yelled, standing up. Her face showed her disdain of the situation and her knuckles were going white from the fist she was clenching at her side. Kato knew that she wouldn't do a thing against him though, their clan was one of the charka less ones in the village and was here as more of a political power. He shook his head as he wondered what his forefathers were thinking allowing this woman's clan to become a part of the council.

"I said it's over so that makes it so." Kato announced, getting to his feet and straightening his robes. Turning around he got ready to leave this room where they dared challenge him.

"This council has been falling to shit every since you became Mizukage," a bold man who was closest to the Kage in age stated.

The room suddenly became quiet as Kato stiffened and turned to look at the new lord of the Onijima clan.

"You really think this council has been falling to shit every since I took over?" he asked quietly, dark brown almost black eyes looking the man up and down. The man nodded in confirmation.

"Is that what the rest of you think as well?" Kato questioned, turning to look at every single one of the members around the room examining the reactions. Three members nodded as well, two members refused to show any reaction preferring to observe what was going to happen and the last bunch all shook their head denying what their peer has said hope not to suffer the backlash of the Kage's wrath.

"Would you really want my father back as head of the village again? Do you really want to go through what was going on when he was the leader?"

"Better him than you!" the man shouted again. "Or better yet what about that run away you call a sister?" Everyone in the room took a step back from the man. They knew that he had crossed several lines he shouldn't have and were just waiting for the imminent explosion.

The Mizukage sighed and took off his hat. Cracking his fingers silently he dashed towards Karou. Grabbing his neck he pressed the man against the wall and slammed him against it several times.

"Do you really think my father would be better off leading this land again?" Kato's voice was low and soft while he was speaking close to the elder's ear. "Do you remember what happened when he lead this village maybe you'll like to have your children killing each other again just so that we could save some money, how about those experiments that were done to your children. You know the ones that robbed us of almost a complete generation." The elders all winced as they remembered how they only had twenty ninja come out of the academy each year. They also remember that their numbers were very low and they had no military power in case anyone invaded not that anyone would invade this land.

The Mizukage slammed the man against the wall again. "As for my sisters you best not mention them again. Where they are and what they are doing is none of your damn business." He threw the man several feet back to where his usual seat was, watching as he stumbled and fell to the floor.

"As for the rest of you," he turned to look at them all again, slowly walking back towards his seat picking up his hat and putting it on again. Sitting down he sighed and folded his hands on the long table before resting his chin on folded hands. "Have a seat!" he yelled harshly, watching them all scurry to sit back down in their chairs.

"How long has my family been leading this village?" He asked, shoulders slumping down as he grew more tired from just being in the room. These people who were supposed to be the voice of the village but, never thought of what was best for the village and how much or little man power it took do things that he oversaw.

"Since it was first established," a woman from the Hinazuki clan stated.

"Don't you think that our experience would comfort you since we lead this village through thick and thin and passed it on to one another?" he was getting angry he didn't want to be here anymore--he wanted to kill them all, but he knew that no matter how he felt he couldn't murder them. He needed their influence outside these lands and killing them, as fun as it would be, would just end up hurting the village in the long run.

"Yes," they all muttered simultaneously.

"Then why won't you accept the fact that this matter will be taken care of or do you have that little faith in my choices." The Kage lifted a folder off the table and looked at it before scowling at it. "Her presence here scares you so much but you won't allow me to send the ANBU." The man moved his hands up to rub his eyes a little bit as he felt the headache coming on in full force. "I supposed I can send some of my best jounin instead if that will comfort you more."

"Thank you." Someone said due to the concern of a missing nin reappearing on the borders of the village this close to the solstice.

"Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?" he questioned from his chair. No one spoke up so he chose to dismiss them all. Watching each and every one of them file out of the room, he sighed and let all the energy to lead the meeting leave his body.

Walking to the only window in the room the Mizukage looked out at the village which was lighting up as the citizens chose to put up lights and ornaments for the festival that was going to happen within the next few days that would span the rest of this week and next week. He knew that this village would be swarming with citizens and ninja from other countries. It was known throughout the countries as the best time to attack the village, but no one dared, instead preferring to attend the festivities. There had only been once case of another village attacking them during the solstice but other than that no one dared to do anything because they loved to watch the village hidden in the mist this time of year, it was said to be one of the most spectacular things in the world.

Feeling a slight spike in chakra the Kage didn't turn around, instead looked at another portion of the village from his current position in the window.

"I-"The Mizukage cut the person off before he could even get the sentence out.

"How long were you listening in for?" he asked quietly, knowing that he would not like the answer.

"Since the meeting started." Aikido said aloud, not embarrassed in the least at being caught eavesdropping on the council's meeting.

"You know I should have you killed for that, right?" Kato said, turning to look at his nephew.

"I know you should." Aikido said more to himself than to his uncle. "But I can take this mission since you told the council that you would keep the ANBU here."

Kato clenched his hands into fist as he heard his nephew utter those words. If Kato was one thing he was true to his word and promises, if he said he was going to leave the ANBU here, he was, but was he really ready to use his nephew on a mission for one of the nin that left this country and went rogue?

"You know you're worried about that rogue ninja, let me take care of her." Aikido stated, wanting to do something for the village that took him in.

"Why does it matter so much to you?" The Kage asked, already knowing the answer.

Aikido said nothing as he scanned the folders on the desk, looking for a particular one which he knew contained the information on the ninja. "I think it's about time I repaid the village," he said finding the folder and flipping it open.

"I already told you that you need not prove anything." Kato uttered, not moving in the least to stop the shinobi from going through the contents of the folder. He knew that no matter what he said Aikido was going to take the mission. They were alike after all, they were both stubborn and when they had their minds made up they were going to go ahead and do it, with permission or not. It was hazardous to a ninja but neither of them cared.

"I'll be fine uncle, I'll bring her head back as proof that this mission was accomplished." The other Umino flashed a grin at the older one and vanished into mist.

Kato Umino was a simple man. He had two sisters and lived for over 50 years now. He also was smart enough to know when he couldn't win battles.

Aikido was headstrong and always willing to prove himself even when he didn't need to. The young man in his 20's was brash and headstrong and Kato couldn't have wanted a better nephew. He looked to where the other man vanished and a small smile spread across his face as he was reminded of just how stubborn Katara was.

"He's just like you sis," he said to no one in particular and left the room to go back to his office where he had to perform his kagely duties.

Iwillchangethetidesoffatechaningthetidesoftimewillalterthisvillagesdestiny

Kakashi sighed heavily as he wiped the steam off the mirror in the bathroom. They had finally arrived at the hotel and now he had to alter his appearance just a bit so that when he got to the village they wouldn't be able to connect him back Konoha. Sometimes he wished he wasn't as famous as he was. Being on the top of most other village's bingo book made it difficult to get into any village undetected unless he had a suitable disguise and he kept his chakra as low as possible.

Looking into his mismatched eyes he sighed and closed the red one before putting an eye patch over it. He hated the feel of the patch because he long ago became accustomed to the feeling of his headband. He knew that wearing the headband would be a dead give away to where he was from. He sighed and looked back in the mirror.

Kakashi looked at his pale face again and stared at it as he hadn't in a long time. It wasn't often he had to disguise himself since most of the missions he took required him to be at full power and on his toes. The off chance he had to actually do what he was doing now he always had the obsession with looking at all of his facial features.

Making a few quick hand seals he performed a low level transformation jutsu which changed the color of his hair to pitch black and gave him a large x on his right cheek just under his one good eye. Satisfied that he didn't look as much like the copy nin, he put on his tight black shirt and adjusted it so that his lower face was covered. Making sure that he was disguised enough for the mission he grasped the handle and opened the door.

Naruto and Sasuke were too busy in their own worlds to sense their old sensei stepping out of the bathroom. Naruto was looking out the window at the port town of Isitori and Sasuke was staring at the ceiling like nothing was going to be happening anytime soon. Clearing his throat they both turned to look at him. Naruto's bright eyes looking him over quickly and Sasuke just giving him a bored once over.

"You call that a disguise?" Naruto shouted, pointing a finger at the jounin.

"I don't need to change that much," Kakashi responded, grinning as he scratched the back of his head.

"But, c'mon that isn't any kind of disguise I still know it's you," Naruto said as he walked closer to his old sensei and walked around him.

"That's because you know who he is and are looking for things that are similar," Sasuke said as he went back to looking at the ceiling.

"What do you mean you bastard?" Naruto turned, eyes flashing dangerously at his teammate.

"You knew that I was going to come out the bathroom disguised and you knew that it was me. You are looking for similarities between me like this and when I'm not like this. No one would pay attention when we arrive in the village, they'll probably give me a quick once over and dismiss me as easily. That's what you were trying to say, ey, Sasuke?"

The brunette responded with a grunt and a shrug of the shoulders as he closed his eyes, bored with looking at the ceiling. Sasuke wondered why he was here again. He didn't want to be a ninja anymore, his goals were fulfilled and he didn't need to seek out any more power.

'Damn old bat,' Sasuke cursed internally at the Hokage for sending him on this mission. He had no desire to become a leaf shinobi again but he knew that the blood limit of his clan was something that would not be forgotten. He knew that she needed him to be a ninja for the village again. The question now was did he have a choice in the matter.

Opening coal black eyes again and looking at a spot above him where paint was peeling off he realized that he didn't. He knew that when he came back to the village those months ago that he was going to be on probation and that he might never be able to be a ninja again. He was really ready to accept that. He was not able to accept the possibility that he might actually be allowed to go back on an active roster as a ninja

"You need to stop brooding." Naruto said as he jumped onto the foot of the mattress the avenger was sitting on. He hated when Sasuke was like this deep in thought about things that no one but him could understand. He knew that was the reason why he left the village for the first time, but just to be reminded of it each time they were on a mission together seemed to get to the blonde young man.

"I'm not brooding." Sasuke muttered as his eyes met very deep blue ones. "I'm just thinking, something someone like you rarely ever does." Sasuke said simply as he closed his eyes again and became lost in thought once more.

As expected Naruto jumped off the bed and yelled dozens of obscenities at him, fist clenching and chakra spiking as he become angrier. This was one thing Kakashi knew would never change between the two of them, the bait and catch method. The elder man knew that Sasuke said half of those things just to get a reaction out of the blonde but Naruto was never one to grasp the obvious.

"Naruto calm down." Kakashi said calmly as he proceeded to go over to his traveling sack and checked his supplies. "We should be getting ready for tomorrow, our ships leaves at dawn and we have about an hour trip ahead of us."

Forgetting his anger for a second Naruto looked to Kakashi and began to question him. "How come this bastard and I don't have to disguise ourselves as well?"

The now black haired man smiled his eye curving happily as he stared at them. "You're not as well known as me. You're also not wanted by many of the other hidden villages yet and aren't seen as that much of a threat." Moving a hand to his eye patch he tapped it once. "Guess how many villages want the Copy ninja's head?"

The blonde just nodded. "So what is the village like?" he said, going to his own bed and falling into it, growing tired at the moment. The trip to Ishitori took less than a day and he was glad to be in a bed. He didn't mind sleeping under the stars or in the forests but the journey wore him out and he preferred a comfortable bed, especially since the hotel as run down as it was had comfortable beds.

"It's another hidden village, it has a lot of streams running through it," Kakashi laughed a little to himself. "You know I've only been there once a few years back and I don't even know if it changed or not since last time I've been there."

"What were you there for?" Naruto kept questioning.

"A little bit of this, a little bit of that." The older man sighed as he remembered the last time he was in the village was to steal a scroll from Kiriga. He succeeded in the mission barely, but it cost him the life of one his teammates. He knew that this was a tricky village -- it could let you in or it could never let you go. It was one of the reasons no other village tried to attack them. The village, as poor as it was, wasn't a very penetrable like people would like to believe. It wasn't surrounded by trees alone but by mountains and valleys and one wrong turn could lead a person to their death if they didn't watch where they were going. He also knew that one could also get so lost that they'd never find the village or their way back to the sea.

"Hm," Naruto said turning over and in a few seconds he was sound asleep.

"You should get some rest as well, Sasuke our ship leaves early in the morning," he looked to the angsty teammate and noticed that his breath was slow and shallow and laughed. Sasuke wasn't one to talk and he supposed he knew that.

Kakashi went to his own bed and laid down, feeling a cold chill run down his body. Not the one from being cold but the one that meant something was going to happen. He closed his eyes as it left his body and again wondered what awaited him in the Village Hidden in the Mist.

End of Chapter 4


	6. Chapter 5 Part 1: Chasing Ghosts

Changing Tides

Chapter 5: Chasing Ghosts Part 1

Aikido walked from the tower, his head held high as he began going over what he would need for the mission. It wasn't supposed to be a long mission, maybe just a few days so he knew that he didn't need to pack at all. He could survive in the wilderness for a bit while he tracked the rogue ninja.

"Iruka-sensei." He glanced in the direction of the voice wondering who would call him by that name. No one in this village called him that and he knew that deep down inside that it wasn't his true name... Or was it? Quickly scanning the area, he saw a blonde child laughing innocently as he ran down the street.

Watching the apparition leave his field of vision, Aikido quickly collected himself and began to chase after it. He knew that it wasn't real, but something deep inside him wanted him to go chase it.

Turning the corner he wasn't surprised to find that the kid was gone.

"Hey sensei," A voice yelled from above. "You're so slow you can't even keep up with me." He looked up**,** following the sound and saw the kid on top of a nearby roof. He couldn't make out the face, but he knew it was the same person. Leaping onto the roof he began the chase again and watched as the image disappeared into a small alleyway back on the ground.

Jumping down**,** Aikido began his search for that kid again and saw him standing at the entrance of the alleyway, staring out into the street. Running to the blonde, Aikido was about an inch away from grabbing him, when the kid took off again. He resumed the chase and dashed after the child into the street. As he ran weaving through the crowd he noticed that more and more people were appearing the closer he ran to the center of the village.

Aikido slowly made his way throughthe crowd**,** gently pushing them out of his way so that he could follow this entity to the end. Some people started looking at him funny, while others just chose to ignore his actions.

The civilians knew that there were times when a ninja could start seeing things that weren't really there. To people not accustomed to this sort of thing, they thought of those people as insane. To those that were accustomed to this, they knew it was just a struggle with some inner conflict and they offered a quick prayer to that person and hoped they would overcome it in the end, and go back to helping the village to the best of their abilities.

Finally making it to the center of the village, the child stopped and scratched the back of his head**,** laughing like only a child who didn't know the hardships of the world could. His body began to slowly fade away as he began to turn around.

"I guess we'll have to play this game again some other time, sensei," the child said sadly. Aikido's own dark eyes locked with eyes as blue as the sky before the young boy disappeared into nothingness.

Aikido stood there frozen in that spot for an uncertain amount of time. Those eyes**,** he knew he saw them before, he knew he saw those marks across a face which gave the kid a whiskered appearance. Grabbing longs strands of dark hair**,** Aikido closed his eyes as a wave of nausea hit him heavily.

Taking a deep breath and opening his eyes he looked around the village and saw a completely different place. A village which didn't have the coat of thick mist to protect it. From his position he could see the edge of a thick forest outside. It was nothing like the ones outside this village with its snow covered trees. The town he was seeing wasn't surrounded by mountains and didn't have waterfalls that fed into streams that ran throughout the streets. Even the people were changing, slowly taking on different appearances. A feeling of familiarity over took him as he saw those people whom he knew he saw before.

Closing his eyes**,** Aikido tried to let all the scenes playing in his mind clear. Slowly opening his dark eyes again he saw that it only got worse. Both villages seemed to have merged and he couldn't differentiate what was locked in his memories from what was actually in front of him. Staggering to a wall he placed a hand upon the hard surface before pressing his head against the wall a few inches from his hand.

Again**,** another memory of a place that wasn't here came unbidden to the surface of his mind and he closed his eyes tightly as a severe pain passed through his entire being. Clenching his jaws tightly it was all he could do not to yell as the pain hit him again. It felt as if his head wanted to split open. He could feel the restraints he put on his chakra while in the village, to protect people from the more dangerous aspects of his blood limit, begin to waver.

"Aikido-san," a voice called from his side and he turned around to see an older lady with grocery bags staring at him with a look of concern. He could tell by the looks of her eyes she was one of those rare people who cared about everyone even if she didn't know them.

"What is it?" the nin said**, **trying to keep his voice as even as he possibly could with the searing pain burning in his head.

"Are you okay?" she said**, **concern lacing her voice.

"I'm perfectly fine. Why do you ask**? **" he would have glared at the woman had he not be in pain from his episode a few seconds earlier.

The woman looked to her left where her daughter was clinging to her pants leg. It took a moment for Aikido to realize it was his young friend, Yari.

"I heard you scream and got my mom," the younger girl said softly as she looked at him with bright blue eyes. They seemed similar to the ones he saw earlier, but these didn't stir the same feelings that the other ones did. "She's the best medical nin in the village**,**" the girl said proudly.

The blonde haired woman's cheeks turn a little red. The woman looked back to him before saying**,** "It's not true**,** you know how kids are now a days," the red still didn't leave her cheeks as she said this. Clearing her throat she asked softly**,** "Would you like me to see if anything is wrong**,** Aikido-san?"

Knowing that nothing was really wrong with him he felt the '_no_' on the tip of his tongue. 'What could it hurt**,'** he thought. Before he could go back on it he nodded slightly.

The woman put her bags on the floor before she took two long stride**s **to him. Slowly she rubbed her palms together for a quick second before a soft green glow enveloped them. Moving her hands to his head, he felt the ice cold chill of her chakra pulsed into his body. Aikido closed his eyes for a second and fought down the urge to impale the woman who was trying to help him.

"I can't seem to find anything wrong**,**" she said after a minute. Letting his eyes slow open he gave her a wary look. He wasn't surprised to find that there was nothing physically wrong with him. He probably would have been more shocked had she found something.

"Well thanks for the help**,**" he said as politely as he could before turning to Yari and giving her a small smile**.** "I told you I was fine**,**" he chuckled lightly before squatting down so he was at eye level with the girl.

"I know but, still**,**" Yari said as she turned away and blushed. The man smiled affectionately at her before reaching down and gently ruffling her hair.

"How about when I come back from my mission we go enjoy the festival together?" he asked softly. The young girl looked at him shocked before nodding esthetically.

"I don't know**,** Yari**,** what do you think your father will say?" The mother said with a thoughtful crossing her face.

"But mom I go with the family every year**,** just this once**,** can I go?" the blue eyed girl said**,** turning on her best kicked puppy look to her mom.

"How about I think about it later is that alright with you**,** Aikido-san**?**" The young man stood up**,** brushing dirt off his pants before giving her a small barely noticeable grin and nodded.

"When will you be back?" she asked now.

"More than likely tonight**,** at the latest tomorrow morning." To any other person going on a tracking mission they would have said a week or more. Aikido knew that it would not take him that long, considering she was supposed to be in the vicinity of the village.

"All right**,** Aikido-san, have a nice day" The woman said, bowing before turning around and walking back the way she came from. Yari quickly hugged him as hard as her 10 year old arms could before she ran after her mother. Aikido's eyes glazed over as he watched them go. He felt an intense sadness take over him briefly before he suppressed it.

Heading towards the gate the browned haired man began to thinkof the quickest way to get to where he had to go before, he felt it. It was a chakra that he knew he felt before and was not one of those constants in this village. He could swear on this life he knew this chakra signature and as he tried to let his mind wrap around the concept he began to feel another one. These were both chakra signatures he knew but, why was he feeling them now when he was leaving the village.

"Watch out!" someone yelled and Aikido's instincts kicked in and he jumped back feeling his blood limit stir within himself. Where he stood a paper lantern had fallen to the floor. A gray-haired woman ran to where he was and began apologizing profusely. He tuned her out before he looked at the remnants of the broken lantern and around the village.

'The festival**,**' he thought to himself as he continued his walk to the city gates. As he approached them he noticed there was more then two dozen tourists stepping through the gate and cursed luck that so many people came at once. Trying to make his way through the crowd he brushed against a dark haired man and felt a spark of familiarity at the touch. He would have analyzed it more had he not been going on a mission.

Finally getting out of the sea of people**,** Aikido gathered a little bit of his chakra before running. 'Why can't I shake this feeling**?**' was his thought as he switched from the ground to the trees. Had he looked back before starting his trip he would have noticed the single black eye that seemed to be searching for him.

Iwillnotdiehereuntilthetideshavechanged

'Today is going to be one of those days**,**' was the first thing that went through Kakashi's mind as he woke before the first rays of dawns light began to creep it's way into the hotel room. Opening his eye**,** the disguised nin rolled over so that he was facing his teammates.

Sasuke was under the sheets and even in his sleep he seemed to be brooding about something. Looking to his youngest teammate he saw that the blonde was sprawled across the bed in a position that didn't look entirely comfortable. The red blankets were kicked on the floor without a care and the pillows from his bed were in random places across the room.

Kakashi shook his head as he crept out of bed as silently as he could**,** making his way to the bathroom to change his clothes and shower quickly before they decided to wake up. Closing the bathroom door as silently**,** he took his sweet time taking all the hot water from the shower glad that his disguise was water proof.

Exiting the bathroom**,** he wasn't surprised to see that that the older of his two teammates was up and sitting on the bed staring at the bathroom door as he came out.

"When did you get up?" He asked as he made his way over to his travel bag and tossed his dirty clothes in there. It wouldn't look good for a "tourist" to not have a change of clean clothes.

"When you turned on the shower**,**" the other said simply as he rose from the bed and began to walk to the bathroom. The scarred man turned to look at the blonde still in the bed and began to wonder when he would get up before he realized that Naruto would sleep through an earthquake if he wanted to.

Sighing he walked over to the bed and poked the blonde who just mumbled something incoherently. The man poked the blonde again who mumbled something about ramen demons that he was going to vanquish with his chopsticks. Shaking the blonde once**,** he wasn't surprised to see the younger man roll into a corner of the bed trying to escape the shaking Kakashi was giving him. Growing tired of the game**,** Kakashi took the bottom of the mattress and lifted it up watching with glee as the blonde rolled onto the floor.

"What the fuck was that for?" Naruto yelled as scrambled to get to his feet glaring at the temporary black haired man.

Kakashi smiled at the blonde teen**,** "I just thought it would be a good idea to wake you up." He grinned under the black shirt which concealed his face the same way his mask usually did.

"Couldn't you have just shaken me or poked me to get me up?" he asked while rubbing his backside.

"I tried that already, you just didn't wake up**,** oh vanquisher of ramen demons" the Copy Nin smirked at the blushing blonde who was at a loss for words.

"What about Ramen Demons?" The young Uchiha asked**,** walking into the room with just a towel draped around his waist**,** pale skin gleaming with the water droplets that he didn't bother wiping way after his shower.

"Nothing!" The blue eyed boy yelled as he blushed even more. Kakashi couldn't help noticing the way the other boy's eyes lingered on Sasuke for more then a few seconds. The black haired boy was too busy looking throughhis bag for something a "tourist" would wear to notice his admirer admiring him.

"You know staring is a bad habit." The former leader of team seven said a little loudly as he made his way to his own bag making sure he had everything packed and ready to go.

"What?" Sasuke said**,** turning around to look at the person who spoke.

Naruto, breaking out of his trance of watching Sasuke**,** quickly made his way to the bathroom**,** grabbing a towel from his own bag as he made haste. A minute after the blonde entered the bathroom they both heard a loud yell.

"This water is freezing! Why is it so damn cold! Who the hell took all the hot water!" Was heard before the sounds of cursing were drowned out by his teammate's laughter.

The port town of Ishitori wasn't a big place and it only took the three ninjas 5 minutes to get to the dock where the ship was supposed to be taking them all across the ocean to water country.

"How long is this trip going to be?" Naruto asked**,** bouncing his way to the ship where dozens of people seemed to be saying goodbye or giving kisses to those who were in line to get on the ship.

"Should be an hour or two at the most." Kakashi said as he went through his bag**,** fishing out their tickets and passports. Handing them over the three all walked onto the ship with no one giving any of them a second glace as they all.

"We'll be leaving shortly." One of the members of the ship's crew yelled as loudly as he could over the noise of the people.

Slowly the ship began to set sail and they were on their way to another port town from where a guide would take them to the village hidden in the mist.

"Why do you cover your face?" a small child said to the tall black haired man. Kakashi startled looked down and saw a kid no older then six look at him with eyes full of curiosity.

"Because. . ." He responded as nonchalantly as he could, leaving that one word open to interpretation as he began to walk away from the child and look around the vessel.

"Is it because you're a Ninja?" the kid asked the taller man.

"Nope, I'm not a ninja**,**" Kakashi lied in another bored tone as he began to walk faster.

"But you wear a mask**,** I thought only ninjas wear masks**,**" the kid said**,** running to keep up with the older man's stride.

Kakashi sighed as he ran a hand thru his dark hair. He just knew that it was going to be one of those days when he woke up in the morning.

Finally docking**,** everyone got off the ship. 4 Mist ninja's were waiting as everyone disembarked.

"Greetings everyone**,** we'll be your escorts. We know that there are more then a few ninja among the like**s** of you." The three Konoha shinobi stiffed and felt the rise of chakra from several others around them.

"We're willing to turn a blind eye to you as long as you don't plan on attacking the village and think you'll succeed in your mission. I'm Kin." Kin pointed to the people next to him giving off a name as he pointed to each one. "We'll be taking you to our village**,** make sure you stay within our sights at all times**,** navigating through this mist is tricky if you don't know where you're going and I know no one would like to get lost forever. Now let's get going**,** it will only take us 20 minutes to reach the village if we start walking now."

Kin turned away from the group and began walking east. To the left of him was a woman who Kakashi didn't even bother learning the name of. He maneuvered himself into the center of Sasuke and Naruto.

"Keep your eyes peeled to see if any of these ninja take one of their guests and doesn't return with them." He spoke in such a soft voice that Sasuke and Naruto could barley understand what he was saying.

In 20 minutes exactly they all seemed to stop as Kin turned around to address them all again. "Welcome to Kiriga and please enjoy your stay for the duration of the Winter Solstice Festival**.**"

The mist in front of them cleared and two humongous doors seemed to appear out of nowhere. The doors opened and everyone seemed to rush in at one time. Kakashi was shoved violently on his left but that wasn't what startled him. It was that chakra signature and a shock that shook him to the very core. He turned around and tried to find the owner but as he was pushed further in the gates**,** it seemed a futile effort.

Iwillnotdiehereuntilthetideshavechanged

Letting go of the feeling of the familiar chakra that was now miles away**,** Aikido continued with his path to the last known location of the rogue nin.

Aikido hated hunting missions, but he always took them because he had a natural gift when it came to hunting people down. He knew he was one of the best people for the job and that if one of the hunter ninja or ANBU were to go after this traitor it would take them a lot longer than need be. He was fast**,** quick and knew he had more than the required power to bring back proof the ninja's demise.

Allowing a small smirk to grace his face he sprinted faster through the trees. He loved this feeling so much, the feeling of a hunt and the thrill of being a nin.

Extending his senses**,** he let his mind wander on the nearbychakra signatures. Frowning a little he was upset when he felt nothing but the typical forest life around. As he got closer and closer to the location that was documented**,** he began to wonder if it was just a fake report, as one of the elders suggest just getting some of the military power outside of the city. Then again he wouldn't be surprise it's not like a missing nin would stay in one location for very long.

Scouting the area by the lake he wasn't surprised to find it deserted. Not even the faintest sign that someone had been here at all. Aikido allowed the rage to build up within him. He did not like to waste his time chasing things that couldn't be found.

The lake churned and stirred as Aikido's rage began to boil**,** showing physically what he was feeling inside. He knew that he was using up a lot of excess chakra and that some nearby enemies of the mist would more then likely come to see what the disturbance was.

Sighing softly**,** Aikido allowed his excess energy to disperse. Hearing the water churn a bit more he had to glance around thinking that his blood limit might be going out of control.

Looking into the body of water he saw a maelstrom and knew that it wasn't his ability at all. A lot of the chakra was centered at the point directly in the middle and below water level. A sphere formed in the center where the vortex was before**,** the water concentrated on that one point circling in a counter clockwise direction. Then all at once all the water froze before it seemed to shatter sending shards of ice in every single direction.

Aikido let his reflexes take over and with several quick hand seals he formed a water wall that deflected all the shards of ice without the tiniest bit of strain on him or his chakra. Letting the wall of water disappear in front of him**,** he looked back to where the mysterious sphere was and noticed it was gone and nothing was wrong with the lake?

"Was it just my imagination?" He asked himself as he took another sweep of the area with his senses. He didn't sense anything but out the corner of his eye he swore he saw a shadow move. He felt a rush of air and knew something was coming his way.

When whatever it was came about an inch from harming him in anyway before his trench coat burst into water and created a giant arc of ice around protecting him from the kunai and shrunken that would have otherwise scored a few lethal hits on him.

As quickly as it made that shield it disappeared back into water and melted into the ground leaving Aikido there in just his fishnet shirt and with a question of who was attacking him.

He allowed a smirk to cross his face at the thought of how much fun this fight was going to be fun and a chance for him to use more of his abilities than he used on his uncle.

Another attack came**,** this time he couldn't see a body but he did see the weapon that was aiming to kill. Making a quick signal**,** the water that was now in the ground surged up creating spikes as it went in the direction he knew that attack came from. He wasn't surprised when his attack didn't do anything at all.

Another attack he spotted a split second before it almost cut off his leg and he sent another wave of spikes in that direction. He again wasn't surprised when it hit nothing. It seemed that who ever the puppeteer was**,** they weren't in the same spot where they attacked from and moved fairly quickly.

Growing bored with the game**,** Aikido got mad and started to make hand signs for one of the justus's he hated using just because of the amount of chakra it consumed, but he knew that the best way to catch a moving target was to attack everywhere at once.

"Water Burst**,**" he said almost inaudibly to the wind before a giant jet of water flew up out of the lake. It began to drench the entire area but that wasn't what Aikido wanted**,** he wanted it there just for a bit longer so that he could use this second jutsu which worked better when there was rain.

"Ice Storm**,**" he said and the droplets of water seemed to hover in air for a few seconds before turning into the jagged shards of hail and began fall, cutting everywhere that the ice touched. He was glad when he heard a very loud curse from the person that he was supposed to be hunting down. Feeling a lot of his chakra leave him he dashed to where he heard the sound from letting the jutsu fade as he approached his target.

Looking at the woman he saw her nursing her arm which seemed to have had a piece of ice piercing an area right next to her elbow.

Looking at her he could see her distaste as she stood up and cast a quick healing jutsu on herself.

"So you're the one they sent after me**,** ey**,** boy**?**" The woman said to him as she flexed her arm**,** checking for more injuries.

"Misato Kisata**,** I assume." Aikido said in an emotionless voice.

"The one and only**,**" she gave him a quick smile throwing a few strands of gray hair over her shoulder. Crouching down she sprinted towards him**,** hand making a fist as she threw a punch at him.

Aikido easily dodged the punch but missed the kick she aimed at his chest. Getting the wind knocked out of him**,** he saw 3 of her and shook his head trying to clear the images out of his mind. Thinking that there was only one there he dodged the first punch but got hit 2 more times by the other two images of her and realized she must have made clones before hand.

Clenching his teeth Aikido swore he wouldn't make that mistake again. Watching two of the woman go low he did a back flip over the double attack throwing a few kunai above him knowing that she would most likely try to attack from there. He heard a gasp and water fell onto his face telling him that at least one of her clones was now gone.

When he landed back on his feet he had to jump back several more feet as several more attacks were thrown at him. Hearing a faint whisper he called back the water that was following him closely and made another shield deflecting all the projectiles.

"My**,** my**,** I haven't seen anything like that since Katara was back in the academy**,**" she taunted as she threw more and more projectiles at the shield Aikido put up around himself. Making a quick hand sign Aikido dropped his shield and teleported to the closest image of the woman. Grabbing her wrist he snapped it before feeling the water come up around his wrist, forming a blade as he slash her across the neck. The water clone burst as it was thrown into a nearby tree.

"Is that anyway to treat a lady**,** even for a clone that's ungentlemanly," her voice was heard everywhere at once and Aikido felt his pulse quicken as the rage made him boil. It seemed that no matter how many times he killed a clone she would just make a new one each and every time and not only one but several of them as each one died.

Staring to get fed up Aikido made several quick hand signals and said nothing as he just stood there waiting for the right moment to use his trump card. Before he had a chance to**,** though**,** a dozen Misato clones came and grabbed onto every part of his body preventing him from moving in anyway.

"Awww**,** is this the best Kiriga has to offer now a days?" The dozens of Misato's said simultaneously. It was enough to echo across Aikido's consciousness.

"It's such a pity**.** I remember when Kiriga was actually a formidable force to be reckoned with." They all said again in that same echoing voice**,** causing Aikido to struggle more against the clones that held him and want to get away all the more. "Then again I suppose injecting that blood limit into every single person that graduated from the academy might not have been the best idea." This time only one voice spoke and Aikido watched as another Misato came from behind a tree in front Aikido. The smile that was plastered on her face made him wanted to rip out her throat and mutilate her face beyond recognition.

"The secrets of Kiriga**,** did they even tell you them?" she smiled and started walking closer to Aikido**,** reaching into her back pocket and pulling out a curved dagger. "I don't believe they have. So I'll do you a favor and spare you from all their trickery. Kirga will fall!" She said finishing the last part off with a scream before plunging the dagger into Aikido's chest.

Aikido didn't even give a grunt as the dagger entered his heart and his head fell down to his chest. Misato gave him a coy smile knowing that her work was done. This was one less mist ninja she would have to kill when she went into the village. She didn't want to kill as much as come back for the solstice, but she knew that her name was among the top three in Kiriga's bingo book. Dispersing her water clones. She watched as the man fell to the ground in a heap without her clones supporting him. Moving to him she brushed a stray hair from his face before reaching down and grabbing the hilt of the dagger.

As she watched the dagger slowly leave his body she was surprised to find no trace of blood and before she had time to process this one of his arms reached up and plunged the weapon back into his body. Aikido looked into her eyes and gave her a cold smirk which had her shaking.

Thrashing a bit she began to try and dislodged his hold on her arm but was unable to as her wrist sunk into his chest and then froze there. He moved to stand to his full height and slowly he moved towards her**,** turning into water when he was an inch from her before materializing behind her and breaking both her arms simultaneously.

Misato let out a pained scream as both her arm were broken. Aikido wrapped his arms around her waist before his body again turned to liquid freezing from her shoulder blades down to her hips. She now just noticed how cold this man was when compared with a human normal body heat.

"You're not the only one who can make clones**,**" was said from above and she had just enough room to look up into the canopy of a nearby tree and see Aikido sitting on the branch watching her.

"But if that's you who is this**,**" she hissed trying not to show how much pain she was truly in.

"As I said it's a clone**,** just a very special one." He said as he dropped down from his current spot in the tree. The clone looked to his owner and nodded. Aikido started forming hand seals and the air began to compress around Misato**,** making it harder for her breathe. She looked down and noticed that there was a ring of water around her that was rising slowly and spinning faster as it got bigger.

"What are you planning to do?" she said her voice becoming ragged from the lack of air getting into her lungs. She looked at the water justsu again fearfully**, **watching as it rose slowly. She tried to thrash but the frozen clone attached to her made it impossible to move even an inch.

"Shredding Whirlpool**,**" Aikido said as he finished his hand signs. The water immediately intensified and flew quickly up Misato's and his clone's body. He heard her scream as the water formed a tornado consuming them both and spinning at a speed so high he knew he could never keep up with it. The next thing he did was use part of his ability to make several bits of ice form within the spinning tornado.

Making a quick hand motion**,** the tornado stopped and began to fade out as it slowed down. The only thing left was a case of ice that contained Misato's head. Beneath that lay a pool of blood from where her body was torn apart by his jutsu.

Walking over to the now harmless threat**,** Aikido picked it up before placing her head it in black bag so that no one else could see what he was bringing back to the village.

"One less thing to worry about**,**" Aikido said as he began to walk into the direction of the village. The water crawling after him before wrapping around his body into the familiar shape of the trench coat very few people saw him without.

Adjusting the head so that it was in a more comfortable position for him to race through the trees**,** Aikido let his mind wonder back. Now that he no longer had a mission he could find that chakra he thought was familiar and see why it was**.**

End of Chapter 5 Part 1


	7. Chapter 5 Part 2: Catching Ghosts

Happy B-Day Changing Tides your now a year old!

Warning – Since this is CT's B-day I went back and edited some of the story. The main overlaying plot is the same but certain elements have changed such as dates times and some longer conversations. If you proceed remember that there is some stuff that was changed in the past chapters that split over into this.

A/N: Thanks to A. Renika for betaing for me. Any errors or mistakes are probably things I didn't catch when I was doing last minute changes before posting. Hope you enjoy this chapter and leave me a review or comment it's much appreciated and helps me when I'm writing.

The men followed their target as he maneuvered through the forest without any signs of slowing down. It was wrong to call him a target, but to a sense that is exactly what he was. They needed to know who he was. They didn't even know if he knew they were there, following him as he walked at a leisurely pace. Ducking under foliage and other obstacles in their path, they didn't allow him out of their sight. They were far from the village now, but that wasn't on their mind-- the only thing was the man they were following. Stepping into a clearing he walked into the vast field surrounded by trees lightly covered with bits of snow.

The man walked on all the way through the clearing until he came upon an area where it was going back into forest. He stood there waiting as if he knew something was going to happen.

Forgoing their cover they walked out into the open following the man into the field. They had no doubt now that he knew they were there. Turning around the brown haired man . . .

Changing Tides

Chapter 5: Part 2

Catching Ghosts

The three Konoha ninja entered the room still on guard at the prospect of being observed. Well one of them wasn't too worried, but Sasuke and Kakashi seemed to be very tense. The two of them were around the room instantly looking for traps or any kind of surveillance device be it listening or visual of any kind that would let someone overhear what they would be discussed here at their temporary HQ. The sweep was quick as the two sharingan masters looked over every crevice of the room. When they were done they allowed themselves to relax a little and made there way over to the bed where the blonde was already settling down.

The room wasn't spectacular in any way as they had to get it at the last minute and didn't have the money to spend at any of the other inns. Even if they did have the money most of the other inns were booked solid as people reserved rooms months in advance. The fact that they even got this room was nothing short of a miracle. It wasn't that bad, if one didn't notice the paint peeling off the walls or the dingy looking walls and the smell of mold. The hinges on the front door were rusted over as well as the door leading to the bathroom, surprisingly they didn't squeak when they were opened or closed. The only thing that looked even remotely new was the beds. In between the beds was a table with a broken lamp on top of it.

"I thought we were going to be caught for sure." The blonde said as he put his bag down on the bed closest to the window in the room. He turned to his two companions and shot them a wide grin while scratching the back of his head.

"I mean did you see the guards at the gate?" he stopped talking for a second as he made animated movements. "They looked like they were ready to jump anyone who so looked at them the wrong way. I wonder what would have happened if someone was to attack them at the gates." A shudder ran through Naruto's body at the thought of a person foolish enough to mess with the ninja at the gate.

"Well it's a good thing we're not that stupid ey Naruto?" Kakashi said as he smiled behind his mask.

"What kind of idiot would . . ." Sasuke's voice trailed off as he thought of someone who would do just that, his former teacher Orochimaru.

Sasuke reached up and rubbed the left side of his neck. Even after the man's alleged death, the spiraling black mark hadn't faded. The man was insane and crazy and was willing to give him power in his self made village. The man who almost succeeded in crushing the village hidden in the leaves just because he wasn't going to become the kage.

Sasuke wasn't torn between wishing he never met the man and not. He got what he needed and succeeded in his goals. The price he paid was nothing and he would do it again if he had to no matter how much suffering he put himself and others through. He dropped his hand from where the cursed mark lay hidden under his black shirt. This mark was a brand of what he had done and what he had forsaken in the name of power and it was something he would wear it till the end of his life.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled trying to get the dark haired boys attention.

The avenger looked up as his name was called breaking out of his thought about his past actions. "What?" his voice was low and barely audible.

"You seemed to space out, that's not like you Sasuke." The blonde stated simply.

"Hn." was grunted in response. The younger one's eyes narrowed at his teammate before he let out a breath of frustration. It was no use talking to Sasuke when he was like this. He was lucky to even get any sort of acknowledgement at all.

"Hey! Where did Kakashi go?" Naruto said changing the subject as he looked around trying to find the temporarily black haired man. Sasuke allowed his eyes to roam around the room and saw all of his stuff still there which meant he hadn't gone out on his own, but he wasn't anywhere in the vicinity.

"I didn't hear him leave?" Naruto stated as he looked outside in the hallway.

"We're ninjas you idiot no one is supposed to hear us come and go. Then again you don't really know the meaning of stealth and subtlety do you? I wouldn't expect someone like you to know anything like that." A smirk formed on Sasuke's pale face as he locked eyes with the blonde. He knew what was going to happen next and waited as he wanted his peer to rise to the bait.

"What was that you bastard!" Naruto said fist beginning to clench and unclench at his side. His anger began causing his grip on his chakra to loosen.

"I said 'you don't know the meaning of stealth.'" The other repeated as he watched the blonde get more and more pissed. It was always fun to rile up Naruto.

"Why I should. . ." Walking across the room he was about to show the teen just what he should do when the door opened.

"You should do what Naruto?" Kakashi asked, eye curving into an arc they were both more than familiar with.

"Nothing." Naruto stated as he walked back to the bed and flopped down on it. He wished his old sensei would have came in just a few seconds later just so he could have gotten rid of that smirk on the other's face. That smirk always pissed him off for reasons he couldn't begin to explain even if he wanted to. Blue eyes looked up at the ceiling and a piece of peeling paint; he groaned in frustration and covered his eyes with a black clad arm.

Kakashi tilted his head wondering what was going on with the blonde boy. He figured it wasn't worth the effort and turned towards the other occupant of the room.

Sasuke gave a small shrug and stood up walking towards the window. On his way to the window he kicked Naruto's foot; whether this was on purpose or not it didn't matter to the blond because he was in his own world now and there was no way he was going to let Sasuke get to him. The only thing he did was release a small grunt that was muffled by the cloth.

"What is wrong with you two?" Kakashi asked as he made his way further into the room. He cast a glance at the blonde then to the raven haired boy who was leaning against the window sill looking outside at the decorations that were up around the village.

The sun was beginning to set and the sky was slowly turning red and orange as the last bits of blue faded. People were coming out of the house as paper lanterns were lit. There was soft music coming from outside but was muted by the walls, which were surprisingly very thick.

"Listen I don't care what happened between you two while I was gone, but we are on a mission. So get your act together," Kakashi uttered, starting to get upset that his subordinates were ignoring him.

"Nothing happened while you were gone, honestly." The muffled voice said. The owner of the voice took his arm from over his eyes and sat up grinning. He bounced on the bed a little before getting up and standing at his full height, stretching. "I was just wondering where you were." The blonde lied smoothly.

"I was downstairs seeing if they had any maps of the village. They didn't but look what I found?" The gray haired man said as he unfurled a poster. Holding it up they saw it was an icha icha poster. "Can you believe someone left this in the lobby? I mean who would give up something like this?" he fawned over the poster for a few seconds as both Sasuke and Naruto both stared at him. They exchanged looks with each that clearly said 'You have got to be kidding me.'

"It's night time and it seems that everyone is flooding into the streets," their leader said in a serious voice. When they looked back at him the poster was on the bed and he was giving them both a weary look.

He walked over to the window Sasuke was currently gazing out of. "We can use this to our advantage." He pointed outside, "Tsunade sent us here during their festival. With all of these tourists around it is the perfect time for us to gather information. Keep your chakra levels as low as possible and don't draw any and I mean any," he shot the youngest team member a look before continuing, "attention to yourself."

"So I assume we're going to split up then." Sasuke stated more then asked the older man.

The addressed person reached a hand up to adjust his eye patch before nodding.

"Any particular place you would like us to check?" Naruto was serious about this mission like Sasuke has never seen him before. He really began to wonder how much Naruto had grown up while he was off. He was still the same person yet, he was different somehow. Sasuke knew that he wouldn't be the same person he always was on a mission like this, but he never saw the blonde act this way before. It was a shock for Sasuke although he wouldn't tell anyone what was going on in his brain.

"Sasuke." The teen looked away from Naruto to the man. "Stick to the streets--there are a lot of carnivals and outside activities going on that you can eavesdrop on."

The raven haired boy nodded at the order.

"Naruto, there should be quite a few restaurants around town. Gather as much information as you can and try not to spend all your money in one place."

The blonde haired boy nodded this time.

"Where will you be heading?" questioned the boy.

"Well you know it's been a long day and I was thinking of relaxing a bit at a local bar." Their old teacher was in a good mood and no longer serious. He gave them a grin that they couldn't see.

"Why do you get to relax and we don't! That's not fair!" Naruto started ranting before thinking of what he was supposed to be doing in the village.

"You're still such a loser." Sasuke muttered. The thoughts he had earlier thinking that Naruto had matured a little vanished from his mind as the blonde obviously didn't understand the importance of Kakashi hitting the bars.

"I am not a loser you bastard!" Naruto growled and stalked over to Sasuke. "It's not fair we have to do work and he gets to relax." The blonde still didn't get the importance and Sasuke sighed.

"He's going to the bar to gather information you idiot." The smarter of the two said to the other plain and simple. Stopping mid rant he finally seemed to get what his ex-sensei was going to be doing.

"Oh." Was that all he could say after all the commotion he made? He blushed, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment making the dark whisker marks on his face stand out more. Scratching the back of his head he looked from Sasuke to Kakashi then back to Sasuke. "I knew that." He laughed nervously.

Kakashi and Sasuke both sighed at their teammate.

"So as I was saying," Kakashi glared at the blonde who quickly looked away. "I'll be going to the bars. You know how these ninjas are, when their drunk they can't shut up." Laughing to himself he continued. "We'll gather back here at midnight and compare what we found. If there is something urgent find me or each other understood?" they both nodded.

The three of them closed the inn room and made their way downstairs. Kakashi put both of his hands in his pocket before slowly walking down the street..

Sasuke and Naruto both walked in the same direction before they split at the crossroad with Sasuke going east and Naruto going west. They all knew it no matter how far apart they were and the words not being said that the mission had officially begun.

IcrybecausethewavesmetmetodayIcrybecausethewavesmetmetoday

The man tied the obi around his waist as he stared at himself in the mirror once more. He spun around once and nodded in approval. There was just one thing he had to do.

Picking up the cup of water he spilled the contents in his left hand solidifying it before the liquid ran down and stained his kimono. Using the thumb and forefinger of his right hand he pulled up at a part of the ice and kept pulling. The ice followed the movements and it made a silver colored ribbon.

Tying his hair back he knew people would think he was abusing his blood limit by using it for things like this. Aikido didn't care what they thought though. He knew he couldn't bring his usual coat on his outing with his young friend because of the festival and he knew the little girl was going to dress nice. The least he could do was show her the same courtesy.

The man finished and let his hands feel the thin ribbon at his fingertips. He tied the ribbon at his neck and scowled a bit as he realized his hair was longer then the ribbon strips.

"Maybe it's time I cut it." He looked into the mirror, spinning around and looking at his hair which stopped right below his shoulder blades.

Facing the mirror completely he looked and saw another version of himself with shorter hair that ended right at his shoulders. He scowled at the image and decided that he wasn't going to cut his hair.

"You need to leave me alone." He said to the image. The image just stared at him.

"You know you're insane when you start talking to yourself." The Mizukage's nephew muttered to himself as he remembered what someone said to him as he walked down the street. He could remember the face of the woman who made quick strides to keep up with his pace talking his ear off. If Aikido wasn't sworn to protect this village he would have killed her. He didn't need to make enemies and the village was starting to warm up to him after he brought back the head of Misato earlier today.

Banishing the thoughts of that woman from his mind Aikido gave himself another once over. He spun around again and smiled at his reflection. The kimono was a dark blue color above his waist were what seemed to be stars and if someone looked they could almost swear they were flickering. Below the waist towards the end of the outfit were waves. They reached about half way to his waist cresting before falling back down and repeating the motion all around. If one looked at the waves there seemed to be an animal leaping out of it coming a few inches under the waist. A few of these were scattered around the whole outfit and seemed it took a master tailor to accomplish such a task.

The most shocking thing was he never visited a tailor or anyone for that matter for custom clothes. When he arrived back at the house after the mission he saw a box with his name on it. He opened the box cautiously and saw this kimono in it with a note inside. The note said simply '_For Tonight_' with no signature on a small piece of paper. After checking for any kind of poison or anything harmful on the outfit he noticed that it was nothing more then what it was. A kimono specially made just for him.

Aikido let his fingers trail down the material smoothing out the few creases as he tried to make sure he looked perfect. The man looked into the mirror one last time locking eyes with himself before turning and walking out of the door. The image he locked eyes with was not his present self, but the one of his past.

Closing the door behind him Aikido took a second to breathe in the air around him. He looked around and saw people rushing deeper into the village. Casting a glance in the direction the people went to he shrugged and headed the opposite. He had someone to pick up before he went into the village.

Turning he started walking down a path which he traveled down several times before. This was the quickest way for him to get to Yari's house.

Making his way down the road he saw people coming up to him and going in the direction he came from. He didn't spare them a passing glance, they were unimportant in his world. Several people he didn't know came and gave him a congratulations and good work on his hunting mission. He wondered how people knew about something that classified, but decided not to worry about it. With an awkward smile he withdrew himself from the conversation and with a nod in their direction he set about his way.

Making the last turn that would lead him to her house he felt a gust of wind. He smelt the moisture in the air and it was becoming slightly humid. He looked to the right and saw the sun slowly setting as the lights started coming on. Taking a step onto Yari's porch he knocked 3 times before turning and looking to the sky.

"It's going to rain." He said to himself as he waited for an occupant of the house to come answer the door. After a few seconds he heard the door open and he turned to look at who it was.

"Kido!" The little girl said jumping onto the older man who easily caught her in his arms, giving her a hug. He twirled her around once before planting her feet back on the ground. He gave her a quick once over and saw her in a beautiful red kimono with yellow sunflowers. The petals were coming off some of the flowers scattered around the outfit. It was an amazing design and he wondered briefly who was the tailor and if they were the same person who made his.

The floor creaked slowly and Aikido's head darted to where he heard the sound originate from. He gave a half smile to his friend's mother. She had a measurer around her neck and wasn't dressed up yet.

'I guess that answered that question,' he thought to himself. 'Did she also make mine?' he wondered.

"Hello," she said slowly giving him a small smile. He nodded in her direction and made his way to the stairs. He looked over at his shoulder to see that Yari ran into the house for a second.

"Yari!" he mother called her as she came back outside with her shoes in hand.

"Yes mommy?" she said as she sat down on the floor to slide them on. After she was done she turned back to look at her mother eyes question why she was called.

The woman's eyes softened as she looked at her child "Behave alright." She said as she inserted a small comb in the bun she spent an hour fixing. The small girl smiled brightly at her mother before running down the stairs as the older man walked slowly after her.

"Are you hungry?" she heard him ask her.

"Yes!" came her daughters enthusiastic reply and she could almost see her daughter blush in embarrassment at her loud outburst. The man laughed softly, but loud enough for her to hear it.

"Be careful." She said softly to the wind as she walked back into the house, closing the door behind her with a barley audible click.

IcrybecausethewavesmetmetodayIcrybecausethewavesmetmetoday

The blond had both hands behind his head as he walked down the busy street. It was crowded and he barely avoided getting mauled by the crowds who were pushing each other to get to where they had to go. It was truly a festival even if the people were trying to seriously injure him.

He looked around and saw the paper lanterns were all lit now since the sun had completely vanished from the night sky as the stars and moon made their appearance. Looking up he let out a long sigh. It was a rather tranquil sight, just to have the soft glow of lanterns and the sky twinkling with stars.

His placid state was interrupted when he was rudely shoved from behind.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" He yelled turning around to see the culprit.

"Well don't stand in the middle of the damn street." The man said as he gave the blonde a vicious look. He was a head or two taller then the blonde and about twice his weight, but Naruto wasn't intimidated by him for even a second. He was an experienced ninja he fought bigger and scarier men than this guy all the time.

"Who the fuck made you the king of the street?" Naruto growled showing his pointed canines.

"You've got quite the mouth on you don't you? I should kick your ass!" he growled back to the blonde as he started to roll his sleeves.

'Who does he think he is?' Naruto thought angrily. "Yeah, you and what army?" he scoffed as he began laughing to himself.

A snap of the big guy's fingers and next thing Naruto knew was that he was surrounded by five men. They were about the same size as the man who wanted to start the fight with the teen.

"What the fuck!" Naruto yelled as he quickly turned around looking at the men before turning back to look at the white haired man. He clenched his fist tightly at his side just waiting for one of them to make a move. He was not going to be pushed around--he got enough of that back in Konoha. He wasn't able to do anything to those that assaulted him when he was younger because he was afraid of not having anywhere else to go, but now that he was older. He could feel the adrenaline pulsing in his system as he became angrier.

"You said what army. I'm showing you my army and what are you going to do about it?" The tall man walked over to the ninja and jabbed a finger into his chest.

Naruto growled and when the man poked him a second time he smacked the hand away from him. He clenched his fist and got ready to knock the guy out when he was punched in the back of the head. He stumbled forward as a guy to the right grabbed his head and delivered a kick to his sternum. He fell to his knees gasping for breath, one hand clutching his chest as his other was on the floor to keep himself from falling flat on his face. While down on the ground like that the guy on his left came and kicked him in the stomach cause the blonde to cry out in more pain.

'I can take them,' he thought 'but if I kick their ass then they would know that I am a ninja and that I came here for reasons other then to enjoy the festival.' The man kicked him in the stomach again.

A large crowed had formed around the six men, not one person interfering because they didn't want to end up like the kid on the floor. They watched with fearful eyes as this was supposed to be a time for celebration not violence, but these men seemed to want any reason to fight.

The blonde on the floor was picked up by two arms as they held him their owner's chest exposing his front to the big guy from earlier. The man grabbed the blonde's hair and lifted his face up so that his red eyes met blue eyes. He leaned down so his face was inches away from Naruto's, the man's white hairs touching his face.

"What do you have to say now punk?" The man pulled back as he delivered a fist to Naruto's gut making him grunt in pain. "What was that? I couldn't hear you." He delivered two more punches in succession to the blonde, relishing in the pain he was causing the teen. "Aw, cat got your tongue?" he mocked as he grabbed the blondes face. "Maybe I should help you talk then huh?" The man raised his fist again this time bring it to the level of the blue eyed boys face.

'Think of the mission' he recited to himself 'My pride does not come before the mission. I can take a few hits for the mission.'

Pulling back he got ready to deliver a blow to the blonde's face. Naruto braced himself as he closed his eyes waiting for the punch to land.

"Loki!" a new voice yelled and Naruto opened his eyes looking in the direction of the sound. He saw a blonde haired man with a mist headband wrapped around his left bicep. He was standing on the roof with his arms crossed over his chest green eyes narrowed in anger. He was dressed in a short blue shirt which ended above his belly button and a pair of blue shorts with many wavy white lines broken in the center, the symbol of the village hidden in the mist.

The white haired man now named Loki looked to the newcomer and his eyes widened in fear. "Serif," was whispered in a quivering voice.

The white haired man backed up a few steps and Naruto was instantly released by the person who held him. He had half a mind to sock the guy, but he was curious about who this person "Serif" was and how he was able to make Loki quiver with just his presence. The older blonde jumped from the roof right into the center of the makeshift ring.

"What are you doing Loki?" the mist ninja said, the anger in his voice was enough to make a few of the observers run away. The crowed lost a few members as the beat down ended. There were still quite a few people who stayed wanting to see what the mist ninja was going to do to the white haired man.

"Nothing nothing I'm just minding my own business." The response was hasty. Looking at his face one could tell he rather be anywhere else but here. He glared at Naruto eyes narrowing before he diverted his attention back towards Serif.

"If it's nothing why were you glaring at that kid just now?"

"He was staring at me, I swear." Loki tried to defend his actions. He brought both of his hands up in a harmless motion hoping that it would curb the green eyed man's rage.

"Wasn't what it looked like from where I was standing." He stated simply, moving closer to Loki. The man began backing up, for every step the blonde took towards him he took two steps back until he was against a wall. The man's green eyes were showing immense anger at the audacity the man had. "You think you can lie to my face and expect me to believe you?"

"None of this was my fault it was all his," he pointed an accusing finger in Naruto's direction as he continued. "I was minding my own business till the kid got in my fucking way."

"That's not true!" Naruto yelled "I was looking at the sky when he shoved me."

"Bullshit you know you stepped in front of me on purpose, just to set me up." He hissed, moving his head to lock eyes with the teen a few yards away. He went back to looking at Serif. "You have got to believe me; I did nothing of the sort. He's lying so that he can make me look bad." The big man let out a nervous chuckle as he looked around at his gang members to see if anyone of them would come to his rescue. He wasn't surprised when none of them made a move to come help him, hell they even had the nerve to back up as if hoping that they wouldn't have the ninja after them next.

"Is that why your goons were surrounding him?" motioning to the men who began to move from around Naruto. He laughed for a second; it was a dark laugh which had Loki closing his eyes in dread as if he knew what was coming. "You weren't supposed to be let out of jail for another month. The Mizukage felt nice and let you out early so that you could enjoy the festival as well and this is how you repay him? You start a fight with a fucking kid to try and boost your ego and make yourself look tough. You make me sick Loki."

"I told you it wasn't my-"he was cut off by the ninja again.

"Don't bullshit me." Serif's hand shot out and he grabbed the man's throat slamming him into the brick wall behind him. The large man let out a groan which was ignored as Serif began to lift him a few inches off the ground, pinning him to the wall. "I told you one more misdemeanor and I was going to make sure you stayed locked up for a long time didn't I? Beating up a guest in our village and trying to weasel your way out of the punishment. Did you really believe you would get away with it?"

The white haired man began to turn purple from the lack of oxygen. His cries began to grow weaker as he began grasping the man's forearm clawing at it in an attempt to get the enraged man to let go. The man holding him didn't look like he wanted to let him go anytime soon, but Loki was released and he began taking in as much air as he could.

The powerful ninja brought his left index finger and thumb into his mouth and let lose a sharp whistle that pierced through the din of the village. In a few seconds two ninja appeared beside the man. They stood behind him arms behind their back, in a military rest position, as they waited for their orders.

"Take our dear friend Loki to cell 27 D." he commanded before turning around and walking towards Naruto.

"No, I don't want to go back there it wasn't my fault." The two ninja grabbed him under his arms and with a few hand seals they all disappeared in a flurry of water and mist. The cries of Loki still echoing for a few seconds even after the transportation jutsu was cast and completed.

Stepping in front of the other blonde the man looked behind him and watched as the five men ran, pushing past the crowed to get away from him as fast as they could. When they were no longer in his sight he let his eyes travel down to meet sky blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" was asked in a much softer voice then what he used to scare the bigger man with.

Naruto blinked a few times before scratching the back of his head and grinning at Serif. "I'm fine, just glad someone decided to do something finally." He said aloud while thinking. 'I should have kicked his damn ass.'

"Sorry you had to go through that whole ordeal. I would have intervened sooner, but I had to make sure he was breaking the rules of his probation."

"What do you mean probation?" Naruto asked curious.

"He's a thief and the gang leader of the bunch who were harassing you. He was finally brought down by Aikido and then tossed into jail. The Mizukage was lenient on his sentence and let him out a bit early since it was nothing major he stole or did. When he was released he was let go under the threat 'step out of line one more time and you'll never see the light of day again'." The older man took on a thoughtful look. He grinned down at the younger blonde. "I know this won't make up for what they did to you, but do you want to come get some ramen with me? I want to show you that not all of us from Kiriga are as bad as that guy." The name didn't have to be mentioned to know who he was talking about.

At the mention of the word ramen Naruto's eyes got wide and he felt all the pain he suffered recently just fade away. "Ramen? Did you just say ramen? You mean they have a ramen shop here?" He began rambling "I haven't had ramen the whole trip here. I completely forgot to put it in my bag, but I supposed that is what happens when you rush and pack at the last minute."

The older guy just laughed at the teen's childish antics. He watched as the other dusted himself off and stretched a little before giving him another bright grin and beginning more excited chatter.

"Is it close by? How good is it? Is it your favorite food? It's mine!" Naruto kept shooting questions as he tried to get to know the man a bit more. Anyone who treated him to free ramen couldn't be that bad could they? "How far-" his question was cut off mid rant due to the loud noise his stomach made. Red colored his cheeks as he gave Serif a shy smile.

"Is that your stomach growling because you're hungry or because it heard the word ramen mentioned?" Serif asked curiously.

"I think a bit of both." Sharing a laugh together they both started to make their way towards the ramen shop. Naruto was traveling slightly behind Serif and wondered what was up with this guy showing up out of nowhere. He couldn't have really been watching Loki all this time could he? As he pondered over these thoughts he allowed himself to take in the sites the village had to offer.

Kiriga wasn't as big as Konoha but it was just as amazing if not more so. He looked to the right and saw a larger waterfall pouring down into a small pond. The pond had steams that went around the waterfall once, before going in intricate patterns all around the area disappearing into the village. It was just one of the sights there. He never saw anything like that in all the villages he'd been to and wondered if there were anymore. He knew that he was on the far end of the village but then again he wasn't sure. He didn't get a look at the entire village when they went around looking for an inn and couldn't help but scold himself for not taking in his surroundings he could have known what section of town he was in.

"La," the man said.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused.

"The name of the section we're in is called La." The man said simply as he continued walking.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"You're a guest in this city for one," The man turned around for a second giving Naruto a smirk he finished, "you also asked what the name of the section was called when you were thinking."

Taken aback by that, Naruto stood there for a few seconds before he ran to catch up with the man who kept walking even as the blonde stood there. He opened his mouth to ask-

"No, you didn't say anything else." He stated firmly stopping the question before it was even asked.

"Oh." blue eyes looked relieved not that Serif could see them since his head was straight ahead, watching the path they were traveling.

"We're here." He ushered him to a small restaurant. It wasn't that big, but it had a comfortable atmosphere. There were already several people in the establishment. They were in different booths and the man guided him to the back. Naruto was facing the inside of the restaurant and Serif was facing the entrance. Naruto knew that positioning was important for information, but since he was being treated the least he could do was let the man sit where he wanted.

A girl with a blue uniform came over and bowed to them both asking to take their order.

"Can I have miso pork ramen please." he said. The girl looked at him a little strangely before turning to the other person occupying the booth.

"I'll have the same thing he is having." Serif said as he stretched out trying to get more comfortable.

"So where are you from?" the mist nin question as soon as the waitress left.

'Ah' the blonde thought, 'interrogation'. He was going to open his mouth when the man proactively stopped him from giving his answer.

"This is not an interrogation, I asked because I'm curious where you are from. If you are uncomfortable with me asking you where you come from you don't have to tell me. No pressure kid." The man's green eyes shone with an innocent light and before Naruto could stop himself he said.

"Fire Country, I'm from fire country." Well it wasn't exactly telling the man which village he was from so he wasn't really lying now was he?

"Nice place. I heard it gets pretty hot over there in the summertime and it is even pleasant in the winter. Here it freezes half the time especially after this festival, I'm expecting it to get very cold soon."

"Then why the shorts?"

"Might as well enjoy the last bits of the heat while I can right?" He gave another big grin and Naruto couldn't help but grin back at the man. He saw bits of himself and wondered if he was going to be like this guy when he grew up. To a sense it didn't seem that bad at all, besides he was from the village hidden in the mist.

The waitress came back with two bowls of ramen. Placing one in front of the mist ninja she gave him a smile. Placing the other one in front of the teen and she left just as quickly as she came. The man moved his hand in a help your self motion and Naruto being himself dug in as soon as he saw that motion.

"You seem to have a healthy appetite." The man couldn't help but comment as he watched the enthusiasm in which the boy ate the ramen. The Konoha ninja gave a nod, still slurping up the noodles and flicking the broth that was on the ends of it onto the man accidentally. The man just wiped it off with a grin on his face and interlacing his fingers he rested his head on hands and looked to the blue eyed boy.

"Do you like him?" the man asked.

Naruto choked for a second before swallowing, putting down his chopsticks and staring at his companion as if he had grown a second head. He picked up a napkin wiping the bits of ramen that fell to the table while he was choking. Sighing he put it on the table, he hated wasting good ramen and while this place wasn't as good as back home it was pretty close.

"What did you say?" he hoped it wasn't what he thought it was.

"Do you like him?" Serif repeated.

"Like who?" he asked skeptical about who the man was referring to.

"The person you came here with."

The younger blonde started to panic as he knew that this guy didn't protect him out of pure coincidence. He wondered how long he was being followed and how come he didn't sense them sooner. 'He's probably a higher rank then you.' Thoughts ran through his mind as he took a deep breath.

"Who?" he questioned feigning ignorance. Instead of having the desired effect on the man his smile seemed to get wider.

"The one you split up with. You know black hair, pale skin and from what I can tell acts like he has no emotions at all." Finally unlacing his hands he put one behind him stretching it out on the top of booth's seat, eyes never leaving blue shocked ones.

"Why would I like a bastard like him!" he growled out through gritted teeth his facing growing warm but he didn't think it was out of anger.

"I don't know maybe because the way you act around him."

"What do you mean the way I act around him?"

"The two of you seem to find anyway to get the others' attention. As I said I haven't know you long enough to tell if it's true or not but I do know you like him."

"I don't like him!" Naruto yelled loudly, several pairs of eyes began looking at the cause of the noise. Looking at those eyes Naruto sat down in a huff of anger and embarrassment from his outburst and the conversation.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Much to Naruto's disdain the smile was still present and he knew that the older man didn't believe him

"Serif!" a brown haired man called as he entered the small shop. He looked around before his eyes landed on the ninja whose name he had just been calling out. Running to the table he was out of breath and the teen wondered how long he had been running for. Bending over the newcomer whispered into his superior's ear something that quickly erased the smile from his face.

"Are you sure?" He questioned taking his arm from is resting place to turn and completely face the ninja the best he could in the small booth. His eyes which were filled with laughter changed to the ones they were earlier when he was dealing with Loki.

"Yes sir."

"Go, I'll meet up with you in a moment." He commanded before looking to his dinner companion again. He gave him a small smile before standing up pushing his bowl of ramen to Naruto's side of the table. "I have things to take care of, please excuse me. I'll talk to the owner and tell him to put it on my tab, feel free to help yourself."

"Thanks a lot." He said still mulling over what the man had said earlier. He didn't think he liked Sasuke. His peer was just one of his best friends that he has known since childhood. The person he was trying to bring-

"I'll see you later Naruto." At his name the blonde snapped up and watched as the wind chimes sounded but the man was no where to be seen.

"That was freaky. How did that guy even know my name?" Naruto muttered as he picked up his utensils and began to eat the two helpings of ramen that the mist ninja so graciously gave to him.

"Thanks Ken," A familiar voice said.

This time Naruto completely jumped to his feet. That voice, he hadn't heard that voice in a long time. He looked towards the front counter and saw a man in a kimono with his hair pulled back. Naruto froze in the next second as the man turned around and showed his face. He knew that face--it was one of his precious people.

"Ir-"starting he was cut off by the wind chimes as they sounded, signaling the man had left. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he ran outside where he proceeded to look up and down the streets for his old sensei.

He began again this time the direction he knew Sasuke went. He had to tell someone what he found. They might think he was insane but he had to tell them anyway.

'Iruka's alive.' It was a simple thought, but to Naruto it meant a lot more then that. One of his precious people was alive and here in the village. If they found him maybe he could tell them about the disappearing leaf ninja. He had to tell someone.

For the first time in Naruto's life he had access to ramen, but he neither wanted it nor had the will to eat it.

IcrybecausethewavesmetmetodayIcrybecausethewavesmetmetoday

The further Sasuke walked from his blonde haired companion the more crowded the streets seemed to become filling with people going in every direction. He had to wonder how big this event was to have such a turnout and what exactly the event was that had everyone rushing.

The only thing he saw here were the paper lanterns. He had to admit that some of them were breathtaking. He did notice one common theme though they all seemed to reflect either the sun or the moon.

The one he stopped to admire featured a dragon looking like it was going to eat the sun. Its body was long spiraling from the bottom of the lap wrapping around the sphere of the sun a few times before stopping right above it. The dragon's mouth was half over the sun. Sasuke was amazed at how amazing it looked and allowed his eyes to go over a few more.

Stopping a few feet from that decorated paper lantern he noticed another. This one showed several pictures of the sun being eclipsed by the moon. All around the lantern was different stages of an eclipse. The thing that was making him look at it again was that going to a full eclipse the moon blocked out the sun, but when the eclipse was over the sun seemed to be leaving instead of the moon. Showing both a solar and lunar eclipse in one picture was simply astounding.

Walking in no particular direction he went ahead and noticed a few more lanterns. Some were brightly colored, others didn't have the same shape. Each and every single lantern he saw was unique in its own way. The only common thing was what he noticed earlier--they all had the moon or sun somehow reflected in their art. Stopping again he took time to look at a blue one.

Sasuke move swiftly to the right as five kids ran past him going deeper into the village.

"We'll get horrible spots if we don't hurry up!" he managed to hear before they were out of earshot.

The teen stopped for a second as he watched where they were heading. He didn't know what to make of what the kid was saying so he thought it best just to forget about it. He knew he had to keep his ears open for any information that could help him with this mission.

A few seconds after he started walking again someone bumped into him. The person fell and Sasuke heard the sound of dirt being upturned. He turned to glare at the girl who was dressed in tight pants and a tight black shirt with a small jacket that came a little lower then her waist. She stared up at the taller person with wide gray eyes.

"Oh, jeez I am so sorry I am such a klutz!" the girl said jumping to her feet. She began dusting off her pants trying to get the specks of brown off her black jeans. Finally making eye contact with him she noticed his glare and took a step back. "Really, I am sorry." She bowed down her purple hair falling down into her face.

"Hm..." Sasuke said the sound escaping his mouth as he walked away from the bowing girl. He didn't have time to deal with her, he had information to gather and spending time with a klutz wasn't a very valuable use of his time. Sighing to himself he continued back on his path to nowhere. He wondered if he would even be able to obtain information with all this mass chaos.

"H-hey wait!" The purple hair girl yelled as she ran in front of Sasuke.

Stopping he gave her another glare wondering what it was that she stopped him for. She looked down and began to shuffle her feet in nervousness. After a second of this she looked back into his dark eyes and gave him a wide grin which reminded him of a certain blonde haired ninja.

Losing the glare he just sighed. "What do you want?" he asked, wanting to get it over with as fast as he could. If he was lucky she would just apologize again and then leave. Crossing his arms over his chest he shifted his positioning into one he knew would look more intimidating. Perhaps if he scared her she would just run away and leave him alone.

"Are you going to the concert?" She questioned. She began bouncing from one foot from the other in impatience as she waited for his answer.

Cocking an eyebrow he questioned "Concert?" he didn't know that there was a concert going on in this village. Then he remembered that he just got here and everyone here more than likely knew about it. A light bulb went off in his head as he remembered one of the kids who almost bumped into him earlier saying something about seats. Could this be what they were talking about?

The girl nodded quickly and gave him a big grin. "I guess you haven't heard have you? Let me guess, you're one of those people here for the celebration, but you don't know what's going on do you?" she stared into his black eyes for a few seconds before looking to the right. She turned back to him putting on another big grin "I know what I can do for you I'll take you with me to the concert. It'll be really fun!" She bounced on the heels of her feet as she said her brilliant or so she thought idea.

'No' was the first thing that his lips were about to say but he gave it another thought. He didn't know anyone or anything that was going on around here and this girl was more then willing to help him in that aspect. 'You can question her as well on what has been going on in this village,' his inner voice contributed. Mentally sighing he did something he never thought he'd do.

"I'll go with you." he agreed. In less then a second the girl was gripping onto his arm and squeezing it painfully as she led him down the street.

"So where are you from?" she inquired never letting go of his arm. She looked at him, light brown eyes gazing at him, begging him to answer her.

"The west." he was brief and very vague about where he was from, but this didn't seem to please her.

"C'mon you have to give me a little more then that, tell me what country at least." Pouting, she flashed those brown eyes in his direction again. He sighed and wondered if she knew how futile the attempt to get him to like her was. He was used to ignoring fan girls so this wasn't really different from that, yet he could at least give her the country.

"Fire country," it was a quick response and that was all he was willing to give her as she griped his arm harder and laughed.

"Oh? That's awesome I went there last year and had a blast; it's a lot warmer than it is here. Then again it never snows there does it?" she looked to him hoping for a response but all he did was shake his head and she continued. "I like the cold more than I like the heat and it never really gets that warm here, it's only going to get colder after this week." she grinned at him again.

Sasuke chose to tune her out then as he looked at the path they were walking. Dozens of people were rushing past them and coming from every direction. They were all approaching a stage that was elevated a few feet off the ground. Several spotlights hit it and cause the stage to glow a bluish green color. The surface was reflecting the light and causing it to shine brightly.

Around the stage were about five people who were tuning various instruments, playing scales and generally warming up. There were several huge speakers surrounding the general vicinity of the area all turned towards the stage and the several around the stage turned outwards towards the crowds. There was currently no one on the stage, but by the way people were running he believe that the show would be starting soon.

A guitar riff was heard as the speakers came to life. A firework was shot in the sky and exploded in bright colors a number ten lit up in a bright golden color. Another firework was shot this time a nine in red. Again another burst of light as another firework was shot up an eight appeared this in blue. The crowed continued counting down their anxious voices keeping a steady pace.

Seven

Six

Five

Four

Three

Two

A silence fell over the crowed and no one moved. Even the woman who was clinging to him earlier let him go as she aptly watched the stage waiting for something to happen. White lights surrounded the area illuming a portion of the stage. The speakers came alive at this time a saying.

_What can I do for you?_

More lights of varying colors came on and hit the center of the stage as a young looking woman with short brown hair took her place in the center. She began walking forward till she stopped and spun once. She gripped a part of her kimono while spinning before stopping and throwing the garment off the stage. She was wearing a blue shirt underneath it as well as black shorts.

_  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
I can hear you_

The performer danced around for a few moments before catching a microphone that was tossed in her direction. Catching the object, she twirled it in her hands before bring it down to her mouth and singing with the chorus of the song.

What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?

The crowed cheered loudly after her singing the chorus and began to jump up and down. Sasuke scowled as someone bumped into him from behind. He turned around only to see no one standing in that close of a proximity to him and wondered what could they have wanted. If that person was a thief they wouldn't have even gotten anything as he left everything of value back in the hotel room. He looked over at the woman who brought him here and he noticed that she seemed too entranced in the show to be paying him any attention.

Sasuke allowed his eyes to go back to the stage as he looked at the singer again. She was walking closer to the front of her stage and her voice rang out clear, piercing through the cheering as she went into her first verse.

_  
Far beyond the hazy borders of my heart  
I could see a place that's something like this  
Every now and then I don't know what to do  
Still I know that I can never go back_

Four dancers appeared in a cloud of smoke at the center of the stage and began dancing to the lyrics. The two men and two woman moved forward until they surrounded her and she smiled at the while maintaining her singing. She performed a few dance steps her self while counting to sing.

But the things I've seen in those hazy dreams  
Can't compare to what I'm seeing now  
Everything's so different  
That it brings me to my knees

Dropping her knees another male appeared on the stage and held a hand out to her, picking her up as she began singing the chorus. They danced together him matching her movements as they danced like a couple. He grabbed her arm and spun her around, holding her close for a second before spinning her out and releasing her. She made a motion to him and he came closer before she turned toward the audience and seemed to singing to them.

And though I know the world of real emotion has surrounded me  
I won't give in to it  
Now I know that forward is the only way my heart can go  
I hear your voice calling out to me:  
"You'll never be alone"

The lights changed to blue and red with just a bit of white in the mix. The male who was dancing with the singer went to the back as she lowered the microphone from her mouth. The speakers were still pounding with the chorus as she walked to the back where he dancers were. They all seemed to sync up as she began dancing with them. They were all mimicking each other moments perfectly and did a series of twist and turns Sasuke knew not every person could do.

_  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
I can hear you  
_

The males and females paired off and began to dance with each other. The crowed cheered louder as the males flipped and the females did some motions of their own. They seemed to laugh as they all stopped for a second as there was a break in the music. They grinned at the star of the show as she walked back to the front of the stage.

_  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?_

The lead brought her mic back up to her mouth as she started the next verse. The lights around her changed back to the colors they were earlier. Her voice was just as clear as when she first started. She began the second verse as the dancers backed up everything she did.

I don't plan on looking back on my old life  
I don't ever plan to rely on you  
Even if by chance everything should go wrong  
You'd come anyway and try to save me

"You know its funny." the sharp voice caught his attention and he turned to look at the woman who was still mesmerized by the performance.

"What?" his own voice was low enough so that only she could hear it. He wondered if she was even the one who spoke earlier.

"This song is funny because don't we all want a person like that in our lives?" Her lips moved and he knew that it was her who was talking. She turned to look at him, the tears in her eyes sparking as she tried not to cry. He wondered what happened to make this song have such an effect on her.

Though from time to time it's an upward climb  
All I know is that I must believe  
'Cause the truth I'm seeking  
Always was inside of me

"I thought I found that person once," looking at the sky she allowed the tears to begin flowing down her cheeks. "He was always with me and by my side we did everything together." She laughed bitterly.

And when I find the world of real emotion has surrounded me  
The many things that you taught me then  
Will always be enough to get me through the pain  
Because of you I am strong enough to know I'm not alone

Curiosity wasn't something Sasuke was used to experiencing, but he never had a woman crying in the middle of a packed concert type event. To say he was curious about her tell wasn't far from the truth--he hoped that she would continue without him asking her to and was grateful that after a few moments she did.

"I got home one day and he was gone. His stuff was still there his clothes coat all his belongings everything he owned in the world was there. The only thing missing was him, I didn't even get a note or anything he was just gone."

She laughed just as bitter as she did before as her red rimmed eyes locked with his. Bringing a hand up to her face she began to wipe away tears.

What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?

"Did you ever find him?" he asked her curious how the rest of this tell was going to play out.

She looked at him before shaking her head. She wiped away the remaining tears as she started to laugh this time it wasn't as bitter as it was earlier. It was just a laugh as if she found something very funny, clutching her sides she began to laughed harder at something that was only funny in her mind.

_  
What can I do for you?_

"What's so funny?"

What can I do for you?

"You." Her breathing evened out as she stopped laughing to look at the last Uchiha. Her gray eyes held a secret behind them and a certain mischievousness he didn't like the look of.

_  
What can I do for you?  
_

"What?" He said, eyes narrowing as he looked at her. He was not someone to be laughed at and if need be he was willing to show her just how much he hated anyone laughing at him.

_  
What can I do for you?_

"You like him." she stated simply as her eyes looked back to the stage, everyone on it was doing more dance steps as the speakers thrummed with the chorus. The lead singer brought the mic to her face as she began going into the final stages of the song and performance.

I can hear you

The woman danced around the stage doing elaborate spins moving around the stage making the crowd go crazy with every little movement she made.

_  
And if I find the real world of emotion has surrounded me  
And I can't go on  
You are there the moment that I close my eyes to comfort me  
We are connected for all of time  
I'll never be...  
_

"Who?" he asked as he watched the stage, he didn't know why, but this song was touching him in a foreign way.

_  
And though I know the world of real emotion has surrounded me  
I won't give in to it  
Now I know that forward is the only way my heart can go  
I hear your voice calling out to me:  
"You'll never be alone"  
_

He looked back to the woman expecting an answer from her but she didn't do anything. She hummed with the song as if she knew the lyrics but if anyone were to really listen to it they can tell she didn't.

_  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
I can hear you  
_

"Who?" he asked again, this time getting angry. If she wasn't going to tell him she was going to be in a lot of pain pretty soon.

_  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
What can I do for you?  
I can hear you  
_

She turned to look at him one more time before point to something. "Him" was all she said. He turned around and looked only to see his blonde haired teammate rushing through the crowds trying his hardest to reach him.

_  
I can hear you_

The woman made a motion with her hands at the last line of her lyrics. When she finished that movement the song ended as well as fireworks shooting with smoking coming from the center of the stage. When the smoke cleared the woman and her entourage were gone. Sasuke looked to the position where the gray eyed woman was but saw that another person moved to take her spot. He scanned the crowd quickly just to see that she was nowhere to be found.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled trying to get his attention. The blond was pushing past people who were pressed together so close not even a bug could squeeze through.

Sasuke stood frozen as the words the woman said played in his mind 'You like him.' He was dazed as he looked at his blonde hair companion. He couldn't like him, could he?

"Sasuke." Naruto muttered as he finally made his way to the black haired teen's side, his eyes seemed to be darting back and forth as if he wasn't able to comprehend something. "You'll never guess what I saw." His voice held a slight trembled as if he couldn't believe what he was saying.

Black eyes narrowed as he looked at his companion and gave him his full attention. He began to ignore all the surrounding noises just so he could hear the blonde ninja better. "What did you see?" was asked. His undivided attention was given to his companion wondering what could have shaken him up so badly.

"I saw-"

"Kido!" They both looked in the direction they heard that voice come from. Seeing a small girl by herself who looked around frantically for someone they began to approach her. As they got within a yard of the girl a man taller then them both them came to her side and he knelt down. She put her arms around his neck as he picked her up. Turning around he began to walk in their direction till he pushed passed them both and made his way to an unknown area. His face was illuminated by the stage lights and both Konoha citizens were shocked by what they saw. Sasuke was the first person to break out of the trance, when he did he turned to looked at the blonde who was still staring in the direction that that man had traveled.

Another song began to come on, the piano intro soft and sweet, but neither of the two dazed teens focused on it.

"Was that?" Sasuke questioned wondering why he didn't use his sharingan to verify what he saw was accurate.

"I think it was. I thought I was seeing things earlier and came to tell you. I saw him again and I'm not sure if it really is him or some imposter who looked like him." The blonde shook his head as he though of an imposter looking exactly like the old academy teacher. "We should talk to Kakashi and see what he says about all this. Have you seen which way he went?" Naruto said his shock a lot less than Sasuke's since he saw the man earlier.

_When you walk away_

_You don't hear me say_

"He headed that way," the black haired teen pointed his head in a direction as he began walking that way. Naruto turned around once looking towards where the brown haired teen went before hurrying after Sasuke. If anyone knew what to do it would be Kakashi. At least Naruto hoped he knew what to do.

"_Please oh baby don't go"_

_Simple and Clean is the way that_

_You're__ making me feel tonight_

If Sasuke looked to the stage after the first line of the song he would have realized where the woman who dragged him went. Then again, to Sasuke there were more important things than watching her perform

_It's hard to let it go._

IcrybecausethewavesmetmetodayIcrybecausethewavesmetmetoday

Kakashi pushed a lose strand of black hair from over his eye patch, he sighed and wondered what was really going on in this village. The ninja he followed into the bar had nothing of use to him. He sat close enough so that he could hear the man's conversation. The ninja and his companion were seated in the next booth both they were leaning on the table talking in hushed whispers. Eavesdropping on their conversation, he was able to catch snippets of what they were talking about.

"So it's clear what we are going to do," the ninja whispered to the civilian.

"Yeah yeah." the other man waved a hand nonchalantly as he answered the other.

Kakashi wondering what was going on struggled to hear more. He needed anything that could let him know what was going on with those missing ninja and even if it involved listening to a conversation like this he would bear it just so he could get something. He was still curious why the ninja kept checking everywhere. When Kakashi first laid eyes on him he appeared to be someone who was recently promoted. The man's chakra was erratic as he walked down the street; it was that chakra that drew the black haired man into this bar where he sat down. Kakashi had to shake his head and wonder just how many Chunin in this village were just like this one.

He looked down into his cup and noticed the ice cubes seemed to have melted. He had to wonder just how long he sat there for listening to their mindless chatter.

"Do you think he'll be surprised?" one of them continued the conversation.

"Of course he's turning twenty-one why wouldn't he be." The other questioned.

Holding back a groan Kakashi stood up and stretched, arching his back as he cracked joints that became stiff with how long he sat in the booth. The two men looked at him suspiciously for a second before they went back to their conversation. He could not believe he sat here for a good thirty minutes just to overhear something going on about a party. Leaving some money on the table he put his hands in his pocket and walked out.

Streets were illuminated with the glow of neon lights and paper lanterns. It was a lot cooler then when he first came into this establishment, but it wasn't unpleasant. The hustle and bustle of people was surprisingly calmer then he would have thought with such an event. There was some pushing, but that couldn't be helped and those that were pushing apologized to those that they pushed.

Watching the people for a second the man walked into the crowd. He began searching for high levels of chakra and just looking around for other ninja's he could follow. He knew that most ninja dropped their guards after mission and became a little chattier when they came back. If he could just find the right grapevine he knew that it would lead him to what they needed to know. This was one of those reasons he chose to isolate himself when he was younger.

A sharp spike of chakra startled him a bit. Gazing in the direction he felt it emerged from he followed it with his eyes and noticed it was coming his way. Stretching out his sense again he felt that there was another more subdued one guiding it. He looked overhead as he saw two ninja flying across the rooftops. Locking eyes with the one with better chakra control he watched as they headed in the direction of the village's gates.

'Could they be on the move to Konoha?' suppressing that thought quickly he knew it wasn't possible. The ninjas he saw passing by him were laughing and just enjoying their time with their loved ones. Pinching the bridge of his nose he sighed before going over his options.

'If I follow them they might be leaving the village going on a random mission and take me far from here for nothing' he took his hand off his face and began walking foreword again. 'If I don't follow them I save myself time and be closer to my teammates' he thought. This is why he hated village recon missions, they were always full of choices and finding out what you needed to get was always an annoyance. This was so much easier when you could just follow one target, grill them for information and kill them or let them go depending on the specifications of the mission and how you were feeling that day.

'Speaking of my teammates I wonder if they found anything useful?' he pondered as he moved swiftly to the left and barely dodging a girl who was also in a hurry. He kept up a slow lazy pace seeing if he could follow anything even remotely interesting.

"I cannot believe this shit." Someone yelled and the copy-nin had to turn his head in the direction that sound came from.

A man was taking off his village's head band and stomping down the street in obvious anger. Kakashi's lips twisted in a small smirk that no one could see due to the cloth covering his face. He changed directions and followed the grumbling man.

This was just what he needed--an angry ninja was something he could work with, they were the best source of information since they were not being rational and blinded by rage. They would pick someone to talk to or talk to themselves and he could make out everything. If they became drunk enough he could even question him if the man was alone and he wouldn't realize a thing.

Kakashi fingered several small pills in his pocket and as he wove in and out of building's shadows keeping far enough away from the man to hide his presence, yet close enough to keep an eye on him. The pills in his pocket were specially made to react to alcohol it would make someone forget everything that happened an hour before they took them and several hours after. If push came to shove and that man was completely lost in the drinks he could slip one in and the man would be none the wiser the next day. Could he get the man alone was the question.

The man shoved his headband into his pocket as he walked into an old run down building. The neon sign sitting high above the entrance was dark; a lot of the bulbs were broken while those that weren't broken had probably gone out. The door was missing and even then there was little light in there as well. His target walked into the place with little or no regard for what could happen to him, it gave Kakashi the impression he had been here many times before.

Waiting about a minute he sighed and adjusted his eye patch a little bit before walking into the bar at a slow pace. Feeling the stares of a few people on him he ignored them in favor of searching for that mist ninja. Spotting him at a booth by himself he made his way stealthily to the booth next to him back to the man as he sat down. The ninja didn't even glace up from his drink, he was busy squeezing his glass in anger.

"Gail!" shouted a girl from across the room. Standing in the entrance way was a woman with blue hair and a dark outfit. A mist headband was wrapped around her right leg as her anger seemed to give off vibes that had several people leaving the vicinity. Kakashi smiled at this.

'Well even if I don't get any information from this guy at least the show will be entertaining' he thought as he stood up and walked to the bar in the center of the room. It wouldn't be good for them to believe he was listening in. Placing an order he turned his head slight to look at what was going on with that man and the woman.

Hearing his name called out Gail's jaw clenched and he turned around to see his companion talking long strides to get to him. Too soon for his taste the woman was standing directly in front of his line of sight and she glared at him blue eyes intense with fury. Her stance was one that looked like she was about to put up a fight and her hands kept clenching and unclenching as she stared at the man.

"Biko," he said softly, tinges of anger still lined his voice but none of it was directed towards the woman in front of him. He motioned for her to sit down and she let out a growl before sliding into a seat opposite of him.

"Why the fuck did you do that!" She exclaimed her voice causing several glasses to shake in her wake. Kakashi could feel that she wanted to hurt this man badly. Her emotions were clouding her action and her chakra was seeping out subtly. To most Jounin it wouldn't have been traceable but then again the ex-Anbu was no ordinary Jounin.

"Do what?" he asked, eyes going back down to the glass in his hands. He lifted it up and took a sip of the amber liquid before he placed it back down., his eyes never once coming up to meet her angry gaze.

The woman let out a groan of frustration and slammed a fist down onto the table, scaring away a few more people in the establishment. Taking no notice he continued to stare down at his cup, swirling the glass as he watched the liquid churn.

A glass was placed in front of Kakashi and it forced him to stop his eavesdropping temporarily. He looked down at glass filled with alcohol skeptically before he reached into his pocked and fished out some money to pay for the drink. The bartender took it and without another glance he was off serving another customer. Picking up his drink he silently made his way back to his seat and hoped that neither of them would notice his presence.

When he sat down in his booth Kakashi took on a more lax position. He quickly downed about a quarter of the glass feeling the hard liquor burn his throat on the way down. This wasn't one of his favorite drinks, but it would have to make do so he wouldn't have to deal with its after effects. Running a hand through black hair he sighed as if he was letting off some steam, just in case they were being very cautious about their conversation.

The man seemed to be staring in the eyes of the woman his jaw still clenched in fury and his glass empty. He slammed a hand on the table and stated as loudly as he could. "Leave it the fuck alone."

"I can't leave this the fuck alone. I want to know what you were thinking." Her voice was beyond what it was earlier, if one looked they could almost see the heat radiating off her body.

Kakashi honestly thought that she was going to kill the man any second and frowned. If she killed him he wouldn't be able to withdraw anything from either of them.

"Who fucking cares what I was thinking it's my fucking right. You know what it meant to me and it was taken, I should go kill his goddamn ass now." The silver haired man began to get up when the blue haired woman leaned across the table and put a hand on his shoulder. Using some of her chakra she forced the man to sit back down before she went back to where she was previously.

"You threw the fucking bingo book at the damn Mizukage. Let me repeat that in case it didn't get your goddamn thick head Gail. You threw a fucking bingo book at the leader of our village." The blue haired woman hissed as quietly as she could, knowing that if someone overheard her they would go after her boyfriend. "You're so lucky that you walked away as quickly as you did, he was about to have your head. Be glad that he is also in a good mood or else he wouldn't have hesitated come after you and kill you in ways that we can't even begin to fathom. Hell he might just send Serif after you and let him have his way with you, would you like that instead?" Biko leaned over the table again and was going to smack the man's head when he reached out and grabbed her hand before she was able to.

"I told you, I don't fucking care what happens to me. You know it was my right and what I have been working for all these years," he growled out.

"Of course I know what it means to you. I was there, remember." The anger left her voice as she leaned back in the chair a hand covering her eyes as she tried to fight back some tears. She thought that she was over it that event in the past which enraged Gail, but she was quickly learning that she wasn't anywhere as over it as she thought.

"How could he have given that mission to him? I mean wasn't I capable of dealing with her or was there another reason that he was chosen. How could he have been chosen over me?" Kakashi began to wonder just how angry a person could get before they went insane. What ever happened seemed to set this guy on edge and although he could probably win a fight with him he still didn't want to rumble with the other.

"She's dead now shouldn't you be happy with that at least?"

"How can I be happy with it when I didn't get a chance to execute my revenge on her? She killed quite a few of my friends and she even killed my god damn brother in front of me. You should be as outraged as I am that you didn't have a chance to kill her you saw what she injected into him and saw how his body began to breakdown."

Sitting forward Kakashi began to look into his glass and wondered what exactly the guy's brother was injected with that could have such an effect. Keeping his slouched over position he looked just liked someone who was lost in thought, so he knew that no one would bother him anytime soon.

"I rather no relive that day Gail. I know what happened all to well and it still haunts my dreams to this day." Biko's eyes began to stare at the table. "I remember watching as the life left his body and he was left as a husk of skin."

"Then you should be just as angry as I am? We can't take revenge on the person that did that to his blood, but we could have gotten revenge on the person who killed him."

"The last Mizukage was wrong and this one is trying to make things better. The person he chose was for the best not a reason that was tied to vengeance like yours." she said softy as she reach a hand across the table to place on his lightly.

The silver haired man laughed as he heard what she said. "Do you know why he did it? I can tell you why he did it; it was because he wanted the villagers to approve of him a bit more to accept him. It was a selfish reason he did that and all the villagers and other ninja seem to think it was a saintly act by him, but it wasn't, he just wanted some approval. More than four years of her being tracked and her finally being spotted and he kills her just like so he can fucking be liked. I should have been the one to kill her. Fuck I should go and kill his ass now it's not like he'll be missed."

"How do you know all this?" she questioned eyes widening a bit as she looked to him.

"I was standing outside when I over heard them speaking. I was pissed off because when he left the kage and didn't even bother to stop him, he just let him leave like that and taking the mission. No approval or anything Aikido just said he was taking the mission and left. He didn't even do anything about it." Standing up Gail slammed both hands onto the desk.

"Why don't you like him? He hasn't done anything to you or to any of us. Why is it that you can't stand him at all, babe?"

"He's playing us all for fucking fools." His laughter mimicked the ones you would hear from a person in a mental institution. "A year, he's been in this fucking village for a year and he seems to have won everyone over with his nice guy persona, but I'm not fucking buying it."

'One year isn't that how long since the first ninja from Konoha had vanished? There had to be some connection,' Kakashi thought as he adjusted his position so he was a little bit more comfortable. Casting a glance over his shoulder and noticed that Biko was staring at the table and Gail was glaring at her. Staring back ahead he looked around and saw there were barely any people left from when he had first entered. Those that were there didn't seem to be paying any attention to the volume changes going on right next to him.

"I know how long he has been here for but he hasn't done anything to make me like him. Hell the man barely speaks a word to anyone that isn't the Mizukage. Why on earth would you think that he was trying to plan something?" she questioned.

"Something doesn't set right about that guy. There are so many fucking questions that need to be answered like. Where did he come from and how did he get so close to our kage. What is his real name? What is his past? How the fuck did he even end up in this village. I never saw or heard of anyone named Aikido then suddenly he appeared out of nowhere wearing one of our headbands." The man slammed his fist down on the table and began to step out of the booth. "No matter what happens I will never trust him no matter what our leader says. I bet at the first opportunity he'll betray us all, then the whole fucking village will finally be on to his scheme only to have me rub it in their face." The man grunted out as his fist clenched and unclenched at his sides. Growling at his companion he turned a strolled out of the bar.

Kakashi watched as the silver haired man walked out followed by the blue haired lady. He got up leaving his glass on the table he put both hands into his pocket and proceeded to walk out like he was talking a midnight stroll. He knew that they hadn't gone far as he could still sense them slightly.

Catching up with them he was surprised to see Gail stand there, his anger radiating off him in waves that would send any sane person packing. He was standing in front of a man that was being obstructed by Gail's body. He watched as Biko moved and placed a gentle hand on that mans shoulder as if trying to stop him from doing something drastic and Kakashi had to wonder just who that man was. A second later he saw that person who's face he still couldn't see move a small girl in back of him. Kakashi observed from his spot in the shadows, chin touching his chest looking about as bored as could be with the situation. The air became tense, people who were thinking of coming along this path steered clear and he had to wonder if he should evacuate as well.

"Aikido." The unknown man's name was said in such a way Kakashi had to wonder how come his teeth didn't grind into dust. The anger began to grow bit by bit and the air kept growing tenser.

"Aikido." Biko moved to bow down to him her hand never leaving her boyfriends shoulder.

"Gail, Biko." The man addressed them both in an indifferent voice. His hand holding the girl behind him, never moving, although she did keep trying to peek from his side to see who these two people were. Her blue eyes staring at the man first then the woman bouncing back and forth between them to wondering what was going on and why her older friend thought she needed protection.

The masked man's head shot up as he heard that man's voice. It was a voice he hadn't heard in such a longtime, but it couldn't be -possible. It had to be someone with a similar voice didn't it? Even after trying to rationalize himself Kakashi found himself leaning over a bit just so that he could get a view of the man. He couldn't be who he thought he was.

"What are you doing here?" Gail's voice was full of barely controlled rage as he sunk nails into his palms causing small trickles of blood to appear.

"Is there a problem with my being here?" Aikido questioned his voice low and warning the other not to do anything.

"Of cour-"

"Gail!" Biko shouted as cut the man off from counting his sentence. Tugging on his arm she began to pull him away as he glared at the brown haired man.

When the large man was gone Kakashi could not help but stare at the person he was arguing with. He had to bring a hand up to his uncovered eye and rub it a few times before he could even grasp the concept.

"Iruka?" he muttered to himself as if saying the man's name would force him to disappear. He began to wonder why he didn't come back to Konoha to his friends, his life, his job, and those that cared about him.

Iruka began to turn and walk in the opposite direction of Gail as he smiled down at Yari the aura of death dispersing from him as she took his hand smiling back up at him.

When Kakashi finally broke out of his daze he stumbled forwards and began to follow the ex-teacher. He must be under watch here or something and he had no way to escape. There has to be a reason for him walking so freely in this village. He tried to convince him self of that as he sped up a little bit. The brown haired man wasn't walking as if he was being tailed and Kakashi had to slow down his pace to risk blowing his comrade's cover.

"Sensei!" a distant voice sounded but the leaf nin paid no attention to it all he could do was follow Iruka. He watched people step out of the man's way and give him a few smiles while his face was an emotionless mask as he didn't even spare them a second glance.

"Sensei," the voice grew closer, but Kakashi didn't acknowledge it; all he could do was focus on the figure that was getting further and further away as he slowed down further in a daze. The man began to gain some distance on him and the copy-nin moved faster than he previously moving. He had to find out who and why Iruka was still here and not back home in the safety of Konoha teaching those at the academy.

A hand was placed on his shoulder and forced him to stop. His gaze was still lingering in the direction watching the man as a voice he knew well spoke softly to him.

"Sensei, I have something to report." Naruto said his voice slightly shaky. The older man just nodded before he continued walking he didn't want the brown haired man to get out of his sight.

"What is that Naruto?"

"We found another ninja from home here. We think he might be on a mission as well."

"Who?" Kakashi questioned as he turned towards the blonde. As he turned he made sure he kept Iruka in his peripheral vision because he had a feeling that he knew what they were going to say and all his instincts told him that it would involve that brown haired man who was slowly walking away right now. He hoped that what ever it was would be quick so that he could pursue the man.

"Well-" the blonde began, only to turn away and shake his head as if he couldn't quite grasp the concept of what he was about to say. Shifting his feet nervously he opened his mouth again only to shake his head and attempt to speak again. The words he wanted to say just seemed to die on his tongue. He looked over to Sasuke and the darker haired youth seemed to get the hint.

"We think we saw Iruka in this village." he stated as simply as he could. He was never as close to his old academy teacher as his blonde classmate so he wasn't as dazed as Naruto was. He was a bit shocked, but that was because he wasn't expecting to see that man here.

"Is that right?" Kakashi turned and began walking after that man who was slowly leaving his line of sight. Walking at a brisk pace his two subordinates stood in wonder at what cause the man to leave so quickly before proceeding after him.

"Yes, I saw him at the ramen shop in town." Naruto said quietly as he tried to recall the memory. He remembered hearing the man's voice and seeing him for a second. Could it have really been him though? He only caught a quick glance when he left the shop and when he looked down the street he saw nothing before he ran off to go find Sasuke. Then again he saw that same man and it had to be Iruka since no one else looked like that. Then again the man who picked up the girl at that fair seemed a lot colder than his old teacher would have been and he had to wonder if that was a different man all together.

"I saw him as well at the concert they were having in the town." The black haired young man said from the jounin's left side. He didn't have a chance to use his sharingan to see if it was truly the teacher, but his gut told him it was. When Naruto came and was about to tell him, the blonde wasn't the only one who experienced shell shock. Wasn't Iruka a chunin? Why would he be so far away from home and what kind of mission could he have that required him to be so far away in this town if he was on a mission? Many questions along the same train of thought began to fill the ex-avengers head as he kept up with Kakashi's pace.

"I believe this is the part where you want me to tell you that the both of you are wrong and that you should focus on the mission." The leader of the team assumed as he stopped completely in the middle of the street. The man looked around for a few seconds his eye closing for a second before he began running as fast as he could. His team members running just as fast as he did not wanting to be left behind. "I would love to say that you are wrong and that he's not here, but I can't say that." He paused for a second as he made sure he was going in the correct direction. "I've seen him here as well and was wondering what our old friend could be doing in this village."

Naruto's eyes grew wide as he lagged behind for a few seconds at what his team leader said. "You saw him as well?" he asked, his voice laced with a little bit a joy that Sasuke and himself weren't going insane. His voice was also mixed with a little bit of disbelief if the older man saw the other why didn't he try to stop him or make contact with the other.

"Surprise, no matter how well a ninja is trained some things will still surprise them .When that happens we lost our logical side and stare in disbelief the same as everyone else. Those moments are few and far between, but they do happen." The older man commented as he began slowing down.

"Then what are we going to do now that we all can confirm what we saw. Do we just forget what we saw and continue with our mission or do we go after him and see if he knows anything about what has been happening to those ninja?" the dark haired teen asked his superior as he looked ahead and wondered what exactly they were chasing after.

"The parameters of our mission have changed. The new Mission: Pursue target." Kakashi stated as he pointed towards the man walking with the small blonde girl.

They all paused as the man in the blue kimono stopped for a second. They were expecting him to turn around and were quite relieved when he started walking again.

"Iruka might have seen something in all his time of being here. If he is being watched we just have to wait for him to get to an isolated spot so we can talk to him and see what he knows." What he didn't tell his teammates was that he had a bad feeling about this whole situation.

"He's moving." Sasuke uttered as he began walking, sticking close to the shadows as he followed their target. The blonde haired teammate began to run after the brown haired man just so that he could talk to him and touch him and just see if he was really there and alive. Naruto could feel tears prick at the back of his eyes as he felt a bit of relief wash over him that he hadn't lost another friend. Before he could get to far away Sasuke grabbed his shoulder and pulled his peer into the shadows with him.

The man in front of them stopped for a second as he turned to his right. He let go of the small girls hand as he patted her back and watched her run forward into the arms of a women. He gave a slight wave as the girl shouted goodbye to him turning with her mother and beginning to walk away to a place he did not know. Dropping his hands to his side the mist ninja began to walk towards the gates. He needed to get out of town for a little bit and go for a walk they wouldn't mind much and this noise was starting to give him a headache. As he reached the gate he gave the guards on duty a wave as he walked out of the gate.

The tree ninja following him had to wonder what he was thinking when he walked out of the village. Was there a particular reason he did it or was it a spur of the moment? They knew he had to have some answered about what was going on in this village.

Sneaking out while the gate guards had their attention diverted to the man ahead of them was child's play and they waited in the darkness outside of the city where they knew that he couldn't see them. The three of them all knew it was still too close to openly approach him if he was under observation from the village, but that raised another question. If he was being watched by the village why would they let him leave anytime he wanted to?

"They could be watching him." this thought was voice by the eldest as he watched the brown haired man walk away from the village and into the forest surrounding it. A coat of mist was beginning to form as they walked into the forest after that man.

"Could he know that he is being followed?" Sasuke asked as quietly as he could so as not to alert their target. "That could be why he left the village."

"Yeah, he could have known we were coming and is trying to help us complete the mission." The enthusiastic blonde said trying to be the optimistic one of the bunch.

"That wouldn't be possible he would have let us know something was up when he first saw one of us or tried to get us alone." A hushed whispered from Sasuke to Naruto.

"As I said earlier he could have been watched." He whispered to the both of them as he tried to avoid anything on the ground that could alert the man. "Although there is something that isn't adding up." He mused to himself as he continued to go after their target.

A loud crunch was heard and the two black haired members turned to look at their colleague in anger. If he alerted their target that they were after him it wouldn't end pleasantly. Then again, why were they so afraid to approach the teacher? Realizing that he could have been followed this far out here helped put their minds at ease for a second, before they looked at him and wondered if he heard that. They looked up and if the man heard it he didn't let them know as he continued walking at his own pace never breaking his stride.

The three of them followed their target as he maneuvered through the forest without any signs of slowing down. It was wrong to call him a target, but to a sense that was exactly what he was, friend or not. He was currently their objective and they knew that making contact with him was a priority.

Ducking under foliage and other obstacles in their path, they didn't allow him out of their sight. They were far from the village now, but that wasn't on their mind the only thing was the man they were following. Stepping into a clearing, he walked into the vast field surrounded by trees that were lightly covered with bits of snow and the mist slightly obstructing their sight.

The man walked on all the way through the clearing until he came upon an area where it was beginning to become forest again. He stood there waiting as if he knew something was going to happen.

Forgoing their cover they walked out into the open following the man into the field. They had no doubt now that he knew they were there. They walked into the field so that they were about twenty feet away from the man that was not the only thing on their entire mind.

A sigh was heard even from their distance. Reaching up the man pulled out the ribbon that was tight loosely in his hair. The brown hair fell across the clothed back and the shoulders tensed for a moment before he turned around to face them. Brown eyes glinted in the moonlight as a frown marred his face. Opening his mouth he spoke three simple words that had their hearts beating faster.

"Who are you?"

End of Chapter 5 Part 2

Disclaimer

Real Emotion- Jade's Version

Simple and Clean-Utada Hikaru

A/N: Again thanks to you guys for being patient with me while I wrote the chapter and for those of you who reviewed. Seriously I used to read them all the time while writing this it helped me go on because I didn't want to disappoint anyone by not getting another chapter out.


	8. Chapter 6: As the World Falls Down

A/N: Thanks to A. Renika for betaing for me. Any errors or mistakes are probably things I didn't catch when I was doing last minute changes before posting. Hope you enjoy this chapter and leave me a review or comment it's much appreciated and helps me when I'm writing.

Changing Tides

Chapter 6: As the World Falls Down

"Who are you?" the question hung in the air as none of the Konoha shinobi made a reply, as if saying something, anything no matter how subtle, would make the man in front of them disappear. The man's eyes narrowed as his right hand tightened around the white ribbon.

None of the addressed moved or made a sound, still shocked at the appearance of someone who was thought to be dead.

"I will ask you one last time **--** who are you?" Aikido said, taking a step forward, his eyes ablaze with anger. The mist ninja was more than pissed when he felt these three following him. No one followed him, except those who wanted to cause problems and by the looks of it these three wanted to cause some problems with him. The few people that did follow him were those from Konoha who called him-

"Iruka?" Naruto asked timidly, stepping forward, a grin slowing making its way on to his face as he moved forward. His face split into a blinding smile as he began to take several more steps towards the dark brown haired man. "Iruka-sensei, is that you?" the younger male asked as he began to run to Iruka.

Kakashi finally succeeded in rebooting his mind at the appearance of the man in front of him. He was alive; someone he cared about deeply wasn't dead. He allowed a masked smile grace his face as he released the minor transformation jutsu. He ran a hand through his silver hair, glad that he didn't need it out here and laughed a little bit. Taking one step forward he froze.

'_Who are you?_' kept replaying over and over in his head. He stopped before taking his second step as he analyzed those words. Why would he have said something like that unless . . . His eyes turned sharp as he focused on Naruto running towards Iruka. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

"Naruto!" the white haired man yelled which sent Sasuke on alert, and in an instant his eyes were transforming into the sharingan. He looked at the man Naruto was running to and saw. . .

Nothing he didn't see before. The same person, no hidden bombs, traps or anything of the sort, just the same person he was a student under during his days at the academy. He turned to look at his squad leader and raised an eyebrow at the man whose eye widened and he whipped around to look at Iruka.

Aikido's eyes narrowed as the blonde ran towards him. He shifted his stance slightly waiting for the blonde haired boy to get within arm's reach. As soon as the youth was about a foot from him he lashed out quickly, taking one of the blonde's outstretched arms he yanked the other towards his chest. Embracing the other in a half hug he spun them both around, launching the blonde with the movements' momentum.

Naruto, not expecting the action, stumbled backwards until his back was pressed against one of the nearby trees, his back slamming into it roughly as he stared in shock at the man who attacked him. Aikido spun around letting the ribbon go. The white ribbon changed its shape from the hair tie to water before changing again to a sickle of ice.

Widening his eyes in horror the young boy stumbled and fell flat on his butt as the weapon sailed right over his head, cutting a few strands of his short hair off and embedding itself right where his head previously was. He looked up from the ground into the eyes that were following his every move and he shuddered; he hadn't seen this side to his sensei before and it made him wonder what other secrets the man kept.

"Iruka?" Kakashi asked delicately, not wanting to evoke the same reaction that his younger student got.

The addressed man's head quickly turned into his direction and he could feel those eyes burning with repressed anger. The mist ninja turned the rest of his body around and started walking towards the copy-nin.

"I will tell you the same thing I told all of them," his words were precise, as were his movements, not a breath was wasted as he spoke in a low threatening tone. Stopping a few feet in front of Kakashi, he resumed speaking in the same voice he had earlier, "That is not my name." His face showed his disgust as he glared at Kakashi and Sasuke.

Taking a large breath of air Naruto began to climb to his feet shakily, using the tree for support as he felt the ice that was used to kill him. Grasping onto it tightly he made the rest of the way up only to crash into the tree harshly as it instantly became water. He turned around and looked at where the weapon once was to see that trail of water sliding down the tree and slithering along the ground as if it were a snake. When it reached the dark haired man it wrapped around his legs curling up until it reach his arm where it again became the white ribbon they saw him with earlier.

'Genjitsu?' The black hair boy wondered before he shook his head at the thought of it being just that. If it was anything chakra related it would have been seen by his eyes. The sole Uchiha was briefly puzzled as he watched the scene play out before him, not really sure what action he should take.

The silver haired man next to him wasn't fairing any better as his mind tried to wrap around what was going on. The man before him was exactly the same as he left, maybe a bit thinner but, that was all, there really wasn't a difference about him besides that he didn't have his hair bound in its usual ponytail. What could have been wrong with the brown haired man that had caused him to act this way? Was there some new justu that manipulated its target and placed them under control of the user?

The jounin let some of his chakra flare out a bit to see if any others near the area would flare up as well. He let it rise slowly for a few seconds before bringing it down to a more suppressed level, disappointed to find nothing.

'Could they be hiding?' he thought, as he let his sense try to pick up anything that might have been the controller. If he could find the person who was controlling the man then maybe he would be spared from having to harm him. He again came back shorthanded as he looked at the brown haired man in front of him.

The mist ninja was beginning to grow impatient as the two ahead of him refused to answer what he believed was a simple question. He moved the hand holding the white ribbon to the side of his head, prepping himself to throw his weapon at the two ninja in front of him.

"Why?" a soft voice spoke from behind him. He turned to look out of the corner of his eyes to watch the blonde get up on shaky legs. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing what?" he questioned, his eyes turning harsher as he gave the blonde his full attention, making sure to keep the other two shinobi in his peripheral vision.

"Attacking me!" the blonde boy said as he motioned to himself. "Don't you remember me?" the blonde's voice turned soft, not hiding sadness and bitterness as he kept looking at the man in front of him.

"I don't know who you are." the brown haired man growled out in frustration.

"What about me Sensei?" said the black haired teen as he caught on to what his peer was doing. He knew it was a long shot but, if they could somehow get their sensei to at least remember them a fight could be avoided.

"Not you either!" the man turned sharply and glared at the black haired youth.

"How about me?" the squad leader stepped forward drawing the ninja's full attention. He looked at the brown haired man directly in the eyes hoping that he would remember something. He didn't want to fight Iruka if this was truly him. If it wasn't then he would have no choice but to take him out since their identities had been revealed as ninja from Konoha.

The man's eyes narrowed at the copy- nin for a second before he let out a growl of anger. Who did these people think they were trying to act like they knew him? He was a mist ninja; his heritage, his trust, everything was in the village that he stood for and represented with pride. What did these Konoha shinobi think he was, a traitor?

He felt the anger in his veins rise to an amount he hadn't felt as long as he could remember. "Listen all of you!" he shouted in a voice that all three Konoha nin knew all too well. "I don't know who you think I am, but" he cut off suddenly as he felt a drop of rain fall onto his head. He looked up and became lost in the droplets of water. After a few seconds of looking at the rain he breathed in the scent of fresh rain. Taking that breath calmed him considerably and he was ready to continue his rant.

_When he looked back in the direction of the silver haired man he was startled to find out that the man wasn't there anymore. He looked to the right of where the man was and noticed that the black haired kid wasn't there either. He turned around and looked for the blonde and wasn't surprised to find he was gone with the other two._

'_Genjitsu?' he questioned mentally bringing his hands up to make the hand signs to dispel it. 'If these people put me in a mind trap I am going to rip out their spines.' Aikido finished his thoughts as he made the last sign, as he was about to utter the words to get out he noticed something strange. He didn't have on the gloves he was used to wearing or what he wore when he left the house this morning. In fact his hands didn't have any of the calluses from his life a ninja. He began to wonder just where he was._

_He took the time to carefully examine himself and noticed that he was bathed in blood. It wasn't on his hands but it was all over his body. His clothes were stained with it. Searching himself carefully he noticed that none of the blood was his own. He had no new or old open wounds decorating his body so it had to mean it wasn't his. He began to walk forward__,__ intent on finding out just whose blood it was. He stumbled and in a second righted himself as he turned back around to see what it was he stumbled over._

_When he looked down he saw it was the body of a ninja. They had a spiral leaf headband around their head and blood was coming out of their mouth. Underneath the poor unfortunate soul was water. That looked like it came from the canteen that was in the man's hands. _

_Aikido walked closer to the body and examined what the cause of death was. He started lower on the body and couldn't find any holes or tears in the uniform. When he got to the neck it was a different story. He saw that there was a hole in the neck. It looked recent and he had to wonder if he did this. It seemed like something his blood limit was capable of doing since the water was still being drunk __, which __he was more than capable of controlling it in that form and making it shred the guys throat._

_He looked up and saw another body a few yards ahead. Standing up he jogged over to it. He slowed down when he realized that the person was already dead. He looked at the corpse of the man and wondered what could have happened to the head. He examined the body and saw it was a clean cut that severed everything. Looking a bit closer he saw that it had bits of ice along the muscle where the man was beheaded._

_Standing up he felt a bout of nausea hit him suddenly. He moved a few feet away and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor of wherever he was. He wiped his mouth with the bloody sleeve and realized that it had to be him who murdered these people._

"_Why is this affecting me?" he questioned as he took in the bloody sleeve of his shirt. "I've done worse than this before. Why is this having such an effect on me? This should be nothing." He brought his right hand to his head as a sudden headache began to come._

_Letting out a groan he moved his head forward as flashes of things he didn't catch or understand sped through his mind's eye. Dark hair covered his face as he took deep breaths to calm himself. He knew that this was a memory but, of what? He could only tell that he was young in this one and that it __showed__ him killing more Konoha ninja. He knew that this memory was proof that he was always of the mist if he was that young and killing them._

The three ninja watched as the man let out a groan and clutched his head. Naruto was the first one to react and he began to move cautiously to the teacher. The weapon in his hand had long fallen to the floor when he looked up at the direction that the rain came from.

"Why?" the voice filled with anguish questioned them all.

"Why?" Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow as he tried to come up with a reason for what the brown haired man was asking? "What are you asking us?" Curious he let the question leave his mouth before he could second guess himself.

"Why can't you people just let me be?" the voice was filled with ice and as Naruto reached out a hand to touch the man's shoulder his head shot up. Reaching around his back Aikido grabbed the blondes arm and threw him back to where his two companions were.

Spinning in midair Naruto adjusted himself landing on his hands and feet but, the now damp ground caused him to skid a bit till he was slightly behind his two teammates.

"Iruka- sensei?" Naruto tried again, worry lacing his voice as he wondered what had upset his ex-teacher and made him act this way.

A dark chuckle came from the tanned man as he finally looked up, combing back strands of damp hair. For some reason the laugh was chilling, almost bordering on insane, and had all three of them on edge in an instant. The water at the man's feet began to churn as more and more water along the ground surrounded him.

Sasuke took a defensive stance as his sharingan saw a great gathering of chakra on the ground below Iruka. A glance at Kakashi and Naruto showed that they were also getting into a defensive stance as the chakra levels of the man kept rising.

"Is it so hard for you people to leave me the fuck alone?" was barely audible over the sound of rushing water. "Let me guess you want to know what happened to all your comrades huh?" The same dark chuckle continued.

Kakashi hastily took off his bandanna as he knew that he couldn't avoid the impending fight. He opened the sharingan eye as wide as he could, hoping to copy the jutsu and break it down. He was surprised to find that not even his eye could copy the move. It was as if nature itself was doing it or some other means. The only thing he could see was the gathering of chakra at the base of what appeared to be a forming cyclone of water. He glanced at Sasuke hoping that his sharingan was able to pick up something and when the black haired teen shook his head he knew that it was a futile effort. All they could do was wait it out and see what happened with the ability.

"Sensei! What's wrong it's us we came to bring you back home!" Naruto yelled to the man inside the now raging water. He was beginning to get mad. Why wasn't his old sensei responding to him at all? He growled at this guy for taking his favorite sensei's face and wondering just who he was. All they knew about him was that he was a mist nin but that wasn't anything to go on. Why did he allow them to follow him out here if he knew just what they were after? Was there an alternative reason that he brought them out here away from town?

Before he had any more time to think of the situation an explosion was heard and the cyclone came to an abrupt stop. When it stopped, all the water that had gathered condensed into a sphere before it exploded, sending jets of water flying in every direction.

The Konoha shinobi hadn't seen a jutsu like this and didn't really know what to make of it. They covered their eyes and blocked their face. While it felt like heavy rainfall it seemed to cut parts of their outfits to shreds and all of them could feel small cuts appearing all over their body.

When the attack seemed to stop they all uncovered their eyes and looked towards where Aikido previously was and noticed that nothing was in the spot he previously stood. The only sign that someone was there was the tattered remains of the kimono the man was wearing earlier.

A feeling overcame Naruto and he had the strangest urge to look up and was glad when he did. Descending from the sky was Aikido with a blade of ice in his head and if he kept coming at this speed and angle he would impale him right through the head. Making a quick decision Naruto jumped to the right and rolled as the man came crashing down in between all three of them. The blade he had in his hand broke into shards and then turned into water.

The brown haired man stood up slowly and the three ninja didn't know what to expect of him. Hell, they'd never really seen him in action, except Naruto, and the one time he did was when they were trying to capture Mizuki. The man in front of them all was different and they finally realized that. Where did he get all these techniques from and why couldn't they copy it?

Standing, Aikido summoned the water to follow him and form his usual trench coat. Moving his hands in an arch he caused some nearby water to crash against Sasuke from the side and he was off like a bullet attacking Kakashi.

Blocking the incoming punches with the help of his eye he wondered where the man got these abilities from; he couldn't recall him being this fast or able to create a solid object like he did a few seconds ago. A punch to his face had him jumping back into a sweep kick from Iruka. He took another step back but was surprised by the incoming round house kick which he took the blow from before falling to the floor and rolling a few feet from the attacker.

Sasuke growled at himself for not noticing the wave of water that knocked him to the ground. When he got up he saw the man attacking Kakashi and was startled to see the man put the copy nin on defensive. While the browned haired man was dealing out the blows to his old sensei he began making hand signs for a fireball jutsu. When he finished he brought his hands to his mouth and blew watching the big fireball head towards the brown haired man and allowed a small smirk to cross his face as it got too close for the man to dodge.

Kakashi did a quick substitution jutsu when he saw the fireball coming. Crouching low in a tree he kept his chakra hidden as he watched what the man was going to do. His substitute was attacking the nin directly putting Iruka on defensive. He knew that it would only be a few seconds before the fireball hit the man completely in the back.

Aikido knew that the person dealing blows to him now was trying to keep him busy. He heard the words of the black haired ninja when he was casting his jutsu and gritted his teeth when he believed that the other ninja thought he was foolish enough to get hit from the back just because he was attacking a stupid log.

Reaching down he grabbed a piece of his coat and threw it at the sub watching as the blade imbedded its self in the copy on Kakashi. After that hit, the clone burst into non-existence and a log fell to the floor harmlessly. Slamming his palms against the floor he summoned the water from the nearby puddles and felt as they instantaneously gather at his back and created a giant wall of ice which protected him from the fireball.

If Sasuke was a regular ninja his jaw would have hit the floor at something he wasn't really used to seeing happened. How many people could actually use a resource like that? How much chakra did it take for that to happen? How much chakra did this man still have to use, an ability like this did he have an unlimited amount like Naruto or was there a limit to how much he could use and control?

The mist ninja smirked as he allowed the ice wall to re-liquefy and sent it after the black haired nin. He ran one step behind it knowing that his charka along with the wave would put the teen on edge.

Sasuke's eyes widened as a huge wave was coming after him and this time he could see chakra attached to it directly in the center. Did this mean that this was actually charka related or was the man behind the wave? Before he had time to think about it more he formed the hand signs and put his hands to his mouth getting ready to make another fireball jutsu.

Before he had a chance to blow and make the fireball, the middle of the wave parted. Aikido leapt out from the center cutting downward, as if he wanted to split the boy in half. Sasuke took a quick step back before he ducked as Iruka swiped across his head. The teen ducked felt the rush of wind and rolled out the way. Moving to the man he threw a punch aimed at the center of his chest.

Aikido blocked the punch with his left hand and swiped his blade at the boy with his right hand. The boy dodged the swipe and went to kick him with his right leg. Aikido, seeing it, jumped back and threw his blade at the boy who spun out the way and threw a kunai which was caught an inch from the mist nin's face.

Licking the blade Aikido gave the boy a disturbing grin, which reminded him of Orichimaru, before he threw the blade back at its owner. The black haired teen moved out of the way quickly and watched it embed itself into the tree right behind his head with a loud thunk.

Naruto hearing that sound finally leapt into action as his teammate friend was attacked. Making hand signs for his most used jutsu, he ran after his ex-sensei with a sense of regret and sorrow, as he realized that he would have to fight a man that he admired. Making five clones he leapt into action watching as the man turned around diverting his attention from Sasuke, to fully cast it on him.

Aikido chuckled softly to himself at the one who was so adamant that he was his ex-sensei that he refused to join in the battle earlier. 'I guess he finally realized I am not that man.' he thought as a laugh echoed in his mind which caused his heart to wrench, which he took no notice of.

When the first clone was several yards from him Aikido pointed the index and middle finger of his right hand at the ground before pointing it at the boys who were running towards him. He made a wide outward arc from left shoulder to right shoulder before he crouched down pressing his right palm to the ground and grinning at the blonde.

A whirling sound was heard and then the sounds of trees being cut as two saw blades came out from behind Iruka. They hovered for a few seconds over his head, reflecting light off their pure white blades, before going after the blonde boy and his clones. The clone closest to Aikido disappeared with a poof as it was decapitated. Naruto winced a little as the memories and the clones chakra came back to him but didn't slow down his pace as he ran towards the attacker. He made sure to tell his clones mentally to look out for those blades.

The blades crisscrossed cutting the second one in line along the stomach and the shoulder before it too went in a puff of smoke. Again Naruto winced but, didn't slow down as he made his way to his attacker. When the blades came again him and his other three clones ducked down and watched the blades go over head. They all stood and began running after Aikido again. When they reached him the two infront jumped into the air at the still crouched man hoping to get a good punch in.

Seeing the two in the air Aikido shot up. He performed a back flip taking him out of harm's way all the while making two daggers in his hands. When he righted himself onto his feet again he spun around throwing the blade in his right hand at the furthest Naruto. When the blade connected the clone looked stunned for a second before it was gone like its brothers. The two seemed to become more mad and cautious of the man who was disabling the clones left and right.

Aikido held out his right hand as another dagger formed in it. Laughing a little to himself he ran into the fray of clones and began to try and finish them all off. Moving the blades he spun towards the closest one missing it by a hairs length as it escaped his attack. Another clone came from the back and attacked him, sending a punch aimed at its face but he saw it coming and ducked low. He laughed as if he was enjoying himself when the buzzing sound from earlier was heard. One of the clones looked back and saw that the two saw blades were heading back for them. He took a step back as Iruka made a downward slash at him and almost sent him to non-existence.

Spinning around Iruka and the three Narutos exchanged blows back and forth. Him trying to kill one, while all three of them, tried to get in a good attack on the man. After a few seconds the blades seemed to join the battle, weaving between the clones and Aikido as he tried to kill all three of them. He threw a blade at one's head and watched as a saw blade flew in behind the clone's head running sideways and splitting it in half before the clone disappeared.

"Four down and two to go, I wonder which one of you is the real one." The man taunted as he seemed to go faster. The blades around them all dancing and weaving in and out of the battle. Growing rather bored of this game Aikido made an ice slick under both of the blondes and watched one of them fall. He was on it in a second and quickly embedded the blade in its throat killing it instantly. It gave a shudder as it vanished.

The saw blades buzzed around and began to go after the real Naruto. He looked on awe struck as he wondered if this would be the end of him.

Kakashi, finally getting tired of watching the man's moves, reached into his sleeve and pulled out a dozen kunai. Faster than anyone could see he threw six of them at each blade and watched as they skewed off the course and crashed into a nearby tree. He jumped down and put a hand on Naruto shoulder giving him a grin as he turned to his target, his eyes showing anger.

The blades spun around again and began to approach both the teacher and the student. They both ran towards where Aikido stood watching them. He crossed his arms and moved his head to the side slightly wondering what they could be hoping to accomplish by charging him directly.

Moving out of his hiding place Sasuke snuck up behind the ninja and grabbed him, pinning both of his arms to his waist and holding on with all his strength. The black haired nin was surprised that the man didn't even try to squirm out of the hold as he saw blades came coming behind Naruto and Kakashi heading straight for him. In fact he seemed eager to see if they would go through with it. They began to crouch lower as they got closer to the nin feeling that the saw blades were following them. They knew it wouldn't kill their user but, they hope that it would disable him for a little bit.

When they reached him they both jumped in opposite directions. They looked on as the blades now at the man's arms level kept heading for him. Sasuke now let go and jumped away himself lest he be harmed in the attack.

The mist nin stood firm not moving a inch from where the blades were going to hit him. When they were a millisecond away from cutting the man they burst into water harmlessly going around him and forming a puddle behind him.

"How the hell? It should have cut you!" Naruto couldn't help but feel cheated.

"Did you honestly think that my own attack would harm me? You're not too bright are you?" Aikido responded, his voice filled with malice and a little bit of sarcasm.

"What exactly are you?" Sasuke asked as he moved next to his teammates sizing up the ninja and wondering what other tricks the man had up his sleeve.

"You don't need to know that." He responded turning his back to them. "I expected a bit more of a challenge from the three of you. I'm very disappointed; my expectations were so much higher than this. Two sharingan users and one of them being the famed copy-cat ninja and this is all I get?" He turned back to them and began making hand signs. The sharingans picked up the chakra and all three of them were making the same hand signals as the sharingan worked its magic.

"Water clone!" all three said and two water clones came up from behind Kakashi and Sasuke. Their mouth twitched as the thought he was going to give them a new jutsu to copy and they were sorely disappointed.

For Aikido three clones of himself came up directly in front of him. They dashed towards the four clones and instantly killed them with little effort. Kakashi and Sasuke threw a kunai at two of the clones and were startled when the blade just bounced off the clones and fell a few feet away from them.

"My clones should be more than enough to take care of you." he turned his back to them, his coat flowing in the wind. "Try not to end up like all the other ninja from your country." A chuckle was tacked to the end of that sentence. "I'll be watching and waiting." He disappeared in a flurry of water into the trees somewhere.

"So what do we do now?" Naruto asked his squad leader.

"Well the parameters of the mission seemed to have changed again." Kakashi stated simply sizing up the clone in front of him.

"And those new parameters?" questioned Sasuke.

"First we get rid of these clones. Then we capture and subdue that ninja. Understood?" He said to them all before sprinting forward and launching himself further into the forest knowing that a clone followed would follow him.

"Hn."Sasuke said as he led another one into another part of the forest.

"Bastard, you know that isn't a word right?" he yelled to Sasuke as he led the last one to another part of the forest.

High above them all from a vantage point shrouded in the shadows Aikido watched as his clones and the three shinobi fought.

PleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforeverPleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforever

* * *

Sasuke ran as fast as he could, knowing that the clone which was after him was hot on his heels. If he slowed down for just a moment, he knew that it would be on him in an instant and that wasn't what he wanted at all. He needed to find a place to hide and gather his thoughts for a moment.

How could someone who was so gentle turn into a monster? The man didn't even react when he saw his favorite student. He knew that he was never that close to the brown haired teacher, yet if there was any of the man left in there from back in Konoha he wouldn't have attacked any of them.

A projectile went whizzing by his head and he had to alter his course. Turning his head back as he ran he tried to pinpoint where the attack came from. A sound of leaves rustling, barely audible over the rain, alerted him and he turned forward to see several sharp blades of ice headed for him. He back flipped as the first one got to close for comfort and wondered just where the clone was attacking from.

Sasuke ran a hand over his face, trying to get rid of some of the water that was running into his eyes. Standing here was dangerous and he knew that the clone would be on him soon, yet he needed it to expose itself. He knew that the clone was going to come after him; all he needed was a location and then he knew the roles would reverse. Anything, he needed anything that would give him a hint as to where the other was hiding and attacking him from. He turned slowly, trying to see if he could spot any movements or hear anything. The rain was making it difficult to pinpoint any sound with his ears.

'Think.' he thought to himself as he went over where he was attacked from. The first attack had been from the north it was the direction he chose to run in while leading this clone through the forest. The second attack came from in front of him. How was it possible that the clone got in front of him already he didn't even see the ninja pass him by or make a sound. Just how fast was this new version of their old sensei? He shook his head to keep himself back on track. This wasn't the time to think about those things he had to focus on the task now. He looked to the sides wondering if the clone was trying to attack him from every direction.

From the east came the next attack and it was his thinking that had him prepared for it. He avoided the attack easily enough and got ready to perform his own counter. Pulling out several shuriken he threw them to the west knowing that the clone should be hit or some kind of sound would be made. He looked on in the dark hearing only the rain. He hoped that he wasn't wrong in his calculations. After a few long moments he heard a sound. It wasn't the sound of shuriken hitting a tree; it was a different sound, kind of like the one sound that came from the clones of earlier.

He grinned internally as he knew that he hit it. He began to wonder what now. Did it get mad like a regular person like Naruto's clones or would it just keep going for ranged attacks and he would have to guess? He frowned at the thought; he really hated guessing games especially ones where his life was on the line.

The sound of something stomping in water alerted him and he had to quickly look in the direction of the sound to see the clone come after him. It looked pissed off and its hair on the right side was cut very short and he had to laugh. First it started off with a laugh deep in chest and before he knew it he was laughing out loud.

This pissed the clone off more and it dashed towards the black haired youth. Holding its arms out they seemed to shimmer and then they were replace with long blades. The blades were about two feet long and protruding from where his elbows were supposed to be.

The thing moved fast, almost as fast as the original, but with him in sight Sasuke found it a lot easier to read his moves and find a way to counter his attacks. The clone slashed down his arm touching the ground and Sasuke ran up it, flipping over him and kicking him it in the head. This thing seemed to grow madder as the fight went on. Each move it did was bordering towards berserk then it being a planned attack and he had to wonder if this clone even knew what it was doing.

The clone dashed forward again this time he was able to cut across Sasuke's chest. It wasn't a deep cut; it just tore a little bit of the fabric from his shirt. He growled and took out several more shuriken. He knew that he would only have once chance at this so he slipped them into his palm and waited for the attack he knew was coming. When the clone attacked it tried to cut across his chest again hoping that it could score another successful hit. The attack missed and Sasuke knew what was going to come next a downward swipe and if he timed it right he might be able to get rid of this thing once and for all.

He began making hand signs for a jutsu hoping that his timing was perfect. If it was, this thing was going to disappear as quickly as it came. If it didn't succeed it was going to be even more pissed. He hoped for the former more than the latter.

The clone came and he had a millisecond to do what he planned. Uttering the words of a jutsu he hadn't used in a while he let go of over a dozen shuriken. Each one of them were lit ablaze and seemed like little meteors among the blackness of the forest and the rain. Seeing some light the clone looked up he saw the attack coming and growled when its hand caught in the mud beneath where he struck. It struggled for a second before it seemed to stop and wait for the imminent attack.

The first one hit the clones head and its neck snapped back. The second hit its arm that was in the ground. Several pummeled into the chest of the ice clone and it was on fire. The rest of the shuriken hit it and he didn't want to count anymore. He watched as the clone was devoured in a charka created flame. The rain was pouring on the fire but was unable to quell the raging flames. Sasuke knew that it wouldn't spread to the forest, but he wanted to make sure. He stood there for minutes watching as the creature was burning until the flames finally began to die down.

He began to walk away when he heard a sound from behind him. Looking back over his should he almost cursed. It wasn't dead in the least. It was walking towards him with a slight grin on its face; it's hands were back to normal and it seemed unharmed. The only thing that let him know this thing was a clone was that the color seemed to be gone from it, it looked as if it was carved out of ice. The being moved closer to him and he knew that that's what it was probably made of. This would explain why when he and Kakashi sent kunai at those three clones it just ricocheted off and landed harmless on the ground as if nothing had happened. Those clones didn't even bat an eyelash.

It sprinted towards him and he had to growl. Why wouldn't this thing just die already? He set it on fire and that didn't even seem to harm it in the least. Just like last time it seemed to get angrier. It was moving faster now and Sasuke had to be thankful he had his sharingan or else he would have had some trouble keeping up with the speed.

'What is this thing?' he said mentally as he blocked an attack. He ducked as several projectiles head his way and threw two of his own back at his attacker. He was struggling a little bit and this was just a clone of the actual man. 'What in the world happened here?' he screamed mentally.

"_It'll take more than fire to melt these mirrors."_ a voice whispered in the back of his mind and he thought back. Why did that voice sound so familiar? He remembered hearing it a long time ago and wondered why in the world he was thinking about it now. Realization struck him suddenly and he had to form a new plan.

Haku, that was his name! When he used his blood limit to make those mirrors he said that to them when he tried his giant fireball on them. Why would he think about that at a time like this unless. . .

'Could it be the same type of blood limit that he possessed?' If he was right it would explain some things, but how was he able to destroy this clone? He wasn't Naruto and he didn't posses the chakra of the nine-tailed fox to destroy it like it was done in the past. The only thing he had that might be useable was…

Ducking behind a tree he began making hand signals to create two clones as quickly as he could, both of them water clones since at the moment it was an abundant resource. He just hoped he would have time to use the attack before it realized the two he was fighting were not real. His clones gave him one look before they ran from behind and started to attack the ice creature.

Taking a few deep breaths he ran forward until he was about forty feet away from where the clones were battling. He allowed his left arm to fall limply and closed his eyes taking a deep breath. He felt the chakra gather in the hand and he heard a sound he hadn't heard since he went back to Konoha. He felt a surge of electricity running across his finger tips and again he heard the sound. He took another breath hoping that he would have a few more seconds. The sound grew louder and louder until it sounded like one thousand birds calling to each other. He felt chakra pour back into his body as one of his clones was killed.

He narrowed his eyes as he saw mist nin coming towards him and he had to make this count. He would be a little drained if this attack missed and hoped for his sake that it didn't have the same effect as his attack from earlier.

The clone proceeded to run at the avenger as fast as it could. Sasuke was ready.

From the top of the foliage his other clone came down and jumped in front of the other. When the ice man came to the clone it rammed a fist through Sasuke's clone. Before the clone disappeared it grabbed hold of the others arm knowing that the real him only needed a second to win this fight.

"Chidori!" Sasuke yelled and took off toward where the two clones were locked. His clone shuddered once before it vanished a nanosecond before he rammed his attack through the copy of the mist ninja. It looked surprised as the black haired ninja shoved his fist through it. It began to tremor violently as the electricity surged through its body. It gave one final shudder before it shattered into pieces that began to decorate the floor.

Panting for a few seconds Sasuke let a rare smile grace his face as he looked at the fallen remains of his enemy. He turned and started running back to the clearing in the forest hoping that he wasn't the only one to have defeated his clone.

If he would have looked back he would have saw that the remains of the clone began to melt and a second later Aikido dropped to the spot, and watched him leave.

"I guess we underestimated that one." He said as he looked down into the water. He turned in another direction as he felt his clone fighting the white haired man. He wondered how that one would fare against his clone if he was anything like the black haired one it would be an interesting battle to say the least.

PleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforeverPleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforever

* * *

The white haired man moved an inch to avoid an incoming attack from the Iruka look alike. If there was one thing he noticed it was that this clone was more aggressive than the man himself. It seemed to feed off of the real one's anger which was not fun to say the least.

He spun around as the clone attacked him again. He began to replay everything that had transpired since he saw the man who refused to be called Iruka. He felt his chest tighten a little bit as he thought about having to kill him and shook his head. He was a ninja, this is what they were raised to do and they did without hesitation. The village always comes first before personal feelings, yet there were exceptions. He was really concerned with what happened to Iruka. This was not a normal occurrence. Most ninja would have kept their head bands and put a slash through it or something to let other know that they went rogue. He didn't seem to be missing a headband, in fact he displayed it proudly. He closed his eyes a second before he opened it again watching the copy of the metal swing against the man's collar bone. Why would Iruka have defected was the thing that made no sense to him. He had a lot of friends in the village and everyone respected and admired him. There was no real reason for him to defect.

He blocked an attack before he counterattacked. He threw a punch at the clone expecting it to miss but was surprised when it connected. The clones head didn't snap to the side as it would if it was flesh and blood. It growled at him before jumping back and making a hand sign. Kakashi shook his hand a little as it felt numb and cold from his attack on the clone.

'I guess regular physical attacks are useless_._' He mentally scolded himself for not thinking of it sooner. He should have figured a punch to the face wouldn't have an effect on it like a kunai. 'Well it was worth a try.' he chuckled lightly in his own mind. 'Guess it's time to come up with a new plan of attack.' He thought as he looked to the clone which finished forming its hand signs and immediately got into a defensive position. He had no idea what was coming but he knew that he needed to be prepared for it.

The clone finished and held up his palm. A small sphere formed and floated a few inches above the hand. It was glowing with a faint amount of chakra and Kakashi knew that it was useless to try and copy that jutsu.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he thought back to when Iruka got upset earlier. He made a sphere that contained a lot of chakra before it-

He ran for cover behind a tree before the sphere exploded. Seconds later he heard the explosion and what sounded like dozens of kunai imbedding in the tree he was behind. He let out an internal sigh as he realized it was a close one. He was glad that he saw the attack coming or he would have been a little injured or maybe worse.

He started to come up with a plan. What could he do to distract the clone or how would he be able to get rid of it?

Before he could think anymore he jumped and ran as a blade cut through his temporary cover. He looked back and saw the clone had a blade in its right hand and another sphere in its left hand and Kakashi just knew this was going to be a long fight.

Throwing the sphere it hovered in midair a few seconds before it burst into hundreds of shards spreading in every direction. He ducked behind another tree as he tried to come up with something. He knew that he wouldn't have much time to react. He moved again as the blade cut through the tree, but this time he was ready. He made hand signs quickly before he hit the ground with his palm.

A second later the earth seemed to rumble as a ripple effect spread outward from where Kakashi slapped his palm against the earth. The clone looked startled and jumped over the coming wave. Expecting it Kakashi was already running. He jumped up faster than the copy and kicked it in the chest then he grabbed its wrist before flipping them both upside down. He held the clone tightly to his body as they both spun upside down. When they got close to the ground he let go and quickly righting himself so that he could land safely.

He had to thank Gai for teaching him that one, when he returned to Konoha. Turning, the copy nin began to walk away not bothering to check and see if the clone was actually gone for good --he knew that a clone couldn't survive an attack like that.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice said that caused him to stiffen. It sounded so much like Iruka and he wanted to believe it was the brown haired man, yet he wasn't sure what was going on anymore and a clone wasn't one to have the answered he needed. He turned around and looked back to where he slammed the clone only to watch it crawl out of the small crater he smashed it into.

"Shit." he said as he turned again to face the clone. He was almost sure that the impact of the fall would have killed it off. He turned around and gave it his full attention. Seeing a new sphere being created he cursed again before making hand signs. The sphere exploded and the pieces of ice started heading his way. He stopped his movements and put his hand to his mouth blowing, a giant fireball came out and he hoped that it would be enough to melt the ice coming at him. He held his breath for a few seconds in anticipation of his attack wondering if it would do what it needed to do. It hit a few shards and a grin almost crossed his face before his fireball disappeared into nothing as the sharp edges of ice cut through it.

Growling he reached into his sleeved and pulled out a dozen kunai glad that he always carried extra weapons with him. He tossed them a split second later and watched as the projectiles collided with each other. They harmlessly fell to the floor and Kakashi had a few seconds to breathe in relief that was until another sphere was headed his way.

"Fuck!" he cursed and jumped behind another tree knowing that as soon as the attack was over the clone would cut the tree down hoping it would be able to kill the white haired ninja. He had to come up with some way to kill this clone.

He tried to remember everything the sharingan copied. What did he know about his attacker? Well first off it used a lot of water based attacks even the real one seemed to use it against them, granted he used it on a bigger basis, yet it was still water based attack. Another thing he noticed was the fact that with whatever attack it used it had to gather immense amount of chakra just to cause an explosion. He sighed and wondered what else he noticed. The main thing he had to remember was that it seemed to be made out of ice and his somewhat throbbing hand reminded him of just how hard that ice was to break, even one of Gai's attacks, that he insisted on teaching Kakashi, had little to no effect on the clone. He was beginning to grow a tad frustrated with this clone and wanted it gone now.

The attack came again and he threw a few more shuriken at the clone, when he heard a sound. It was an odd sound and kind of strange since most animals chose to hide in the rain. It sounded like a bird and as the sound grew louder he realized that it wasn't just a single bird it sounded like one-thousand different birds all calling to each other over the sound of the rain and Kakashi had to chuckle at his dark haired teammate for realizing exactly what he needed to do.

'Chidori, why didn't I think of that?' he had to grin despite the fact that he was under attack. 'Leave it to Sasuke to figure thing out quickly so he could get back to-' his thought was cut short as the clone appeared in front of him. He did a back somersault to get away quickly before throwing another quick fire justu at the target. It didn't seem to have any effect although it did slow him down a little bit which is what Kakashi was hoping for.

'Better question is how I would get enough time to actually make a Chidori?' he questioned mentally. He jumped up into a tree and an idea struck him. He began to make hand signs again as he hid for a split second. The clone was very repetitive in its attacks and was going to try and cut down the tree he was behind, so he knew this plan would work. Hopefully the clone was not immune to things like chakra thread and paralyzing Justus.

The attack came and he had to jump out of the way. He started weaving a web of chakra thread in seconds because he knew that is all the time he would be able to get. When the tree was cut down the clone looked at him enraged and began to charge him.

When the clone was a few feet from him it froze for a second before the thread revealed itself. The jutsu he cast was one to bend the thin light streaming through the forest and render the thread invisible as well as make anything tangled in it to be paralyzed.

His arm dropped down to the floor and a ring of energy began to form. The water began to circle him as he widened his sharingan eye in preparation for this attack. The air began crackling before the sounds of birds was heard slightly above the rainfall. In his right hand a ball formed before growing in length and making a blade made out of pure electricity.

"Lighting Blade!" he yelled as he thrust forward at the clone. Within seconds he was at the clone ramming his right hand through the clones' chest. A sound didn't even leave the creature's lips as its eyes rolled back in his head. A second later its head fell against its chest before it shattered into a million shards each reflecting shades of moonlight.

"Enjoyed the show?" he said to no one in particular as he turned towards where Naruto was having his fight. He knew that among the three of them he would probably have the most trouble with the clone. Even if it was just a clone he knew that the blonde haired teen would not want to harm his favorite sensei.

With that in mind he sprinted off in that direction.

Aikido let out a chuckled as he slid from behind a tree.

"Of course I enjoyed it." He said to the back of the man who was too far gone to have heard him.

PleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforeverPleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforever

* * *

He couldn't do it. No matter if it wasn't real he still couldn't bring himself to attack the person who was the splitting imagine of his old sensei. The person who took care of him and treated him to ramen, could he really attack this man regardless of who he was?

A blurry figure was in his line of sight swiftly and before he could second guess himself he was moving to dodge the attack. He had to wonder if this was how he wanted to prove himself to his sensei. In a fight like this where he didn't really know how much power the other contained, it was sad even when a clone of the man was stronger than he had seen his sensei in all his life back in Konoha. He still couldn't help but wonder what happened in this village to turn this man into what he was today.

He gritted his teeth and let out a growl as he turned narrowed eyes at his target. He didn't want to do this to someone that held that face, but he knew that he couldn't die here and he refused to die now, he had to find out what was wrong with his sensei. With a yell he began his attack.

He punched with his right fist and hoped that it would connect, although it wasn't the most powerful attack he just had to prove to himself that he could just hit this man with no problem because if he could, he knew that this battle would be a little bit easier on him. If he couldn't, he knew that he might not come out of this alive and he had to survive. He had to find out what turned his precious person into the apparition in front of him and do whatever he could in his power to get the man back to the way he was when he as in the village hidden in the leaves.

The cloned dodge the attack effortlessly and gave him a soft smile that he knew meant a lot of trouble if he read in-between the lines. He was used to the man expressing himself in strange ways and some of his smiles weren't always sweet, this one in fact promised him pain. Not the pain that he was used to, such as a whack in the back of the head, more like life threatening pain and he had to suppress the urge to shudder in fear.

"I see you're finally attacking." the clone said in a voice that Naruto couldn't help but find some comfort in. It had been such a long time since he heard that voice, even if it was laced with malice and a touch of sarcasm it didn't stop his heart from clenching and him beginning to wonder if what he was doing was right.

"Wha. . .what?" he stuttered out as he stared at the clone. He knew that clones could talk -- even his could and would argue with him, yet he wasn't sure if it was possible. This had to be the first thing it said to him in the short run here and that voice was far too calm and bored to really come from him. Was the clone that cocky that Naruto was going to be an easy target to take down? He felt a growl in the back of his threat as anger started to consume him. He wouldn't get mad at his old sensei no matter how much this clone seemed to egg him on.

"Aww, don't tell me you're going back to not attacking already." The man walked forward taking slow careless steps towards the blonde. If he was reading this child right he knew that he wouldn't dare attack him and that made this clones life a bit more fun. He knew that he could tease, badger, and probably kill this ninja without any effort what so ever. He knew that it would be boring as well. What he wanted was a little fight and some of that anger he knew was contained in that young body.

Speechless, Naruto clenched then opened his hands quickly trying to soothe his own rage. He knew that had it been anyone else he would not have hesitated to bash their face in yet he was at a loss for what to do. On one had he could stand here like he was currently doing and hope that he was fast enough to dodge the attacks or he could fight this clone and go after the real person and hope beyond hope that he would finally come to his sense and remember who he was. He let out a sigh and knew what he had to do, he knew that he would have to fight the person he cared about to bring him back home.

"I see you finally came to a decision." the replica stopped his steps a dozen or so feet away from Naruto casting a eye on him, sizing him up as if guessing what he could do just by taking a glance at the young man. A small smirk graced his face as he looked and found what he was unknowingly looking for. "Since you found your will to fight let's not waste it."

In a flash the clone was gone and he was left there in a daze wondering how it could move so fast, a sudden pressure against his back let him know that the clone wasn't as far gone as he thought it was. He didn't dare move as he felt the solid form of the clone pressing against him.

"Don't disappoint me now." Was the last thing he heard before freezing cold water crashed against him. He let out a gasp of shock as the violent flow of liquid hit him and sent him reeling back a few feet. Righting himself he looked around for the clone only to find it gone. His eyes widened for a second before they narrowed in anger. He was not going to be bested by a clone in any way; he was the future Hokage of Konoha. He just had to focus for a few seconds and the clone would reveal itself. If there was one thing he learned in his life it was that clones tended to be impatient, his own tended to show bits and pieces of impatience. Then again he was an impatient person himself so maybe that just reflected what the user was, but in the end he knew that the man who they took after wasn't patient himself -- all he had to do was wait a little bit and he should be able to draw out the clone.

One breath.

Two breaths.

A soft rustling of the leaves was the next thing he heard and he had to dodge quickly to avoid the long jet of water that was headed his way. It seemed to shimmer in the nonexistent light and he realized that it wasn't water that was aiming at him, but a long stream of ice. It embedded itself into the floor of the forest and he started to wonder if that wasn't the true intention behind this attack.

Tracing the path of the object he hoped that he could find who it was attached to. Running his eyes up the length of the object he saw it disappear back into the blackness of the forest. It was slightly larger than two of his feet side by side. Running to it he jumped onto it and began to run up it, surprised that it did not seem slippery in the least bit.

Making another quick step along the object he felt it soften under his weight and had to apply charka into his feet so as not to fall into it. Squatting down for a split second he pushed off his feet and jumped off the temporary path, flying through the air he altered his direction till he was hanging from a nearby tree branch. Letting the spike of adrenaline empty out of his system he wondered if that was already planned. The fact that a clone might have known he would try to follow him in that sense had him grimacing and wondering what it could have planned for him had that trick succeeded. He looked at the place where he just jumped off of to notice that it looked solid again. Looking down he noticed he wasn't too far off the ground.

As he began to release his grip from the tree branch he heard a foreign sound, which seemed out of place in the rain and darkness of the area. It sounded like the crackling of ice freezing over. His eyes darted back over to that long projectile and he had to let go quickly as a tendril of liquid shot out towards him.

He flipped in the air once, bracing himself for the impact. He crouched low when he landed and wondered if that was another projectile or an extension of the first one. He let eyes go back to where the first one was and had to widen his eyes as another tendril of ice shot out at him. This one he saw coming head on and it curved around several trees before coming directly towards his face. He rolled to his right quickly. Splintering wood assaulted his skin and he had to catch a breath at the near death experience. He held back a grimace as he realized just what would have happened if he had not moved out of the way and that spike had killed him. He wouldn't have been able to save his sensei. He tightened his fist and he realized that he had too much to do and he couldn't die just yet even if this was his sensei he had to live a little bit longer and tell his precious people just how much they meant to him.

Making a hand sign he yelled out "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and in a moment there were a dozen clone of Naruto not including the original. He gave them a grin and waved towards that one large spike of ice that seemed to start it all. He knew that it wouldn't be the best tactic that he could have chosen yet he had no other choice. He had to end this fight now before anything else unexpected happened and he wasn't able to counter it at all.

He ran to the object and jumped onto it this time keeping some of his charka geared into his feet. He didn't want to sink into it; he knew that his clones were doing the exact same things as he was.

Running up the ice he began to feel it changing back to water, it wasn't out right but a quicksand type of feeling. Pushing more chakra into his feet he ran faster hoping that he could get to the source before the path could completely disappear. He took a glance behind him and saw the path rapidly disappearing. He moved quicker. He saw that the trees become a little bit denser and knew that this would have probably been the best place for this type of jutsu if he himself was casting it.

He saw the man or rather the man's arm's morph into that elongated object that almost impaled him and he went ahead and jumped off the makeshift ramp, his clones already a step ahead of him. They took to the trees surrounding him before one accidently got into his line of sight.

The clone's head jerked up quickly and it assessed the situation. It saw only one of the clones and waited a few seconds knowing that the blonde was probably sick of being the defensive one in the situation. The blonde clone moved toward and watched as the brunette one jumped back off its branch. The ice acted as if it were in its liquid form, wrapping around the branch and leading to the ground where the other still had his hand extended above his body.

The real Naruto who was hidden with the other 11 clones wondered why the man didn't just dispel the jutsu it was using instead of just continuing it as he fell. He only had a second to wonder as the canopy above one of his clones head was destroyed. Several of them jumped out of their hiding spots and began to rush the man. The arms lost their solidness of ice and became more like moving water.

Aikido's clone lashed out with his right arm and impaled a clone instantly killing it. He looked on as he saw another blonde running towards him. He bent down low and lashed out this time with his right arm. It made a wide arc out from his body and cut right above the ankles, the clone then fell forward into smoke as it disappeared. The clone showed a sadistic smile as it went ahead killing several more of the Naruto images. The last remaining five as well as Naruto knew that they needed to plan ahead and come up with a better way to face this man. He was able to take out them without breaking a sweat, the rush in headstrong tactic wouldn't work here and he needed to finish this quickly, he felt a wave a dizziness hit him and knew that he was reaching his limit on normal chakra. Sure he could use the demon fox, yet he didn't want to use that destructive chakra when he needed answers.

He ran over all his attacks in his head and he knew of only one that could break ice. He had mastered it a few years ago, but it still had a small charge time and if how fast that ninja moved was any indication he needed some cover before he could. He saw one of his clones from his right Peripheral vision and nodded to it and it was gone in an instant. He heard his own voice taunting the man before he stopped and concentrated on gathering his chakra in his right hand.

While he was gathering his chakra he could almost recall a memory, it was one of when he first learned this technique and was back before Sasuke left the village. One of the first people he showed his new technique to was Iruka. Closing his eyes he pictured the warm smile that the man gave him when he offered to teach him. He tried not to let the disappoint show in his face back then but it still hurt. The ramen afterwards was delicious yet still he wished that his old sensei would have given him a chance to teach him rasengan.

He opened his eyes and focused on what was in front of him, he would have time to reminisce late, but right now he had a clone he needed to get rid of. He had to jump out of the place where he was gathering his chakra as everything around him began to fall. The clone looked at him, eyes cold with that same smirk he had earlier when he defeated those clones still decorating his face.

"Aww don't tell me you think I forgot about you already." He said with a smile, mockery coating every word. He couldn't attack this clone yet since the rasengan wasn't full charged yet, he knew that he wouldn't have to if his instinct was right.

Two of his remaining clones came and stopped right in front of him

"Three against one?" the brown haired man sighed for a second before making a movement too quick even for his eyes. Those two clones were dispersed into nothing.

"I guess it's just you and me now?" Naruto refused to rise to the bait, he knew that saying something right now wouldn't help the situation and he knew he had to stand his ground. He rose and let the energy he was trying to combine flutter back into the environment, his rasengan turning into nothing but air.

'How fast can he move?' was the only thought that passed through his head as he was impaled by one of those arms. He could feel the blood leaving his mouth and he had no choice, but to cough it up as the clone held onto his back holding him close. The blade was entered in his chest and sticking out his back passing right by his lungs and not damaging anything major but an extreme amount of pain surging through his body.

"Well this was boring. I could have sworn you would have been more of a challenge than that, I guess I was wrong then." It stated as it began to withdraw the blade from Naruto's body.

"Rasengan!" was yelled and the next second the splashes of ice were cutting up his face. He had to smile a bit as he looked up to see the clone's head taken clean off in one solid motion. The body of the clone stood straight up back arched for a few seconds before it burst into water. He looked at the water then towards the blonde who was out of breath. He smiled once then allowed himself to fall to the ground and disappear in smoke.

The sound of clapping reverberated against the silence of the forest. The blonde haired young man had to look at where the sound was originating from to look at the true master of the clone. The brown hair was across his shoulders as his head was turned slightly, his hands were clapping slowly as if he was impressed.

"Good job." Aikido started to talk as he pushed off the tree to turn in Nautro's direction. "You seemed to be the most reluctant to fight me. I see you finally had it in you to destroy one of my images." He stated simply. The water from where the clone was coming from started to slide along the ground. It slithered until it reached its master before curling around his legs and disappearing into what Naruto could guess was the coat.

Naruto stared at the image of his sensei, his former sensei, his friend, his enemy and couldn't pin down exactly what he should be feeling. On one hand this was the man that treated him like family on the other hand this man tried to kill him and his two teammates at the same time and didn't seem to have any qualms about doing it at all.

"Now, now." Aikido started again. " I thought my clone made you want to talk more."

Naruto didn't know what to say and for once in a long time he stayed silent.

PleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforeverPleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforever

* * *

His silver hair whipped around him as he rushed through the trees. He knew that the man was here somewhere and he had to know why. He could swear that the man was a traitor and he knew that he could prove it.

Was he mad? Yes he would openly admit he was pissed off at the Mizukage's nephew. He wanted the man to suffer for the pain that he cause this ANBU.

Yes he would have to pay and that is why he had to follow the ninja. He felt so many spikes of chakra in this forest it was a wonder that any of his patrolling peers didn't stumble upon this area first and figure out why so much energy was being released so close to the village. He knew that most of them were on vacation, still it was no reason to leave the village this way to make it weak and defenseless. He knew that this was that damn man's fault.

He moved faster and tried not to let his anger upset his movements too much. He knew that if one was angry and pushed off a branch hard enough it would alert others of their presence -- it was one of the first things one learned after the academy. He didn't need that damn man's interference now.

Otter reached up and adjusted his mask, feeling along the inner lining to make sure it was perfectly secure. He knew that time was an asset and he needed to make sure that what he had planned would work.

Climbing up higher in the foliage he saw three copies of the man. Two of them were already being destroyed while the last one was being watched closer than normal or at least what he considered normal. If his hunch was right the one fighting the blonde would be the one to get the most interaction and there he could make a trap.

He had to hold in a cheer as the kid defeated the clone and Aikido made his presence known. He pressed a hand against the tree and waited until his back was completely turned.

He grinned and planned his next move. He moved onto the edge of the branch and held a hand out as the rain fell. He smirked and pressed his left hand to his chest before making a few quick hand seals before he muttered.

"Ninja Art Water Burst Shuriken." he uttered so low that even if someone had been listening it would have only sounded like the pitter patter of the raindrops. His hand began to collect water and he watched as it began to take shape. When it finally finished forming what it was supposed to be the size was almost as tall as him. This technique was one of his friend's; he knew though that this type of shuriken wouldn't stop until it did what it was supposed to.

He spun around once before launching it at the unsuspecting pair on the forest floor and grinned before he started heading back to the village. He had a report to make after all.

PleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforeverPleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforever

* * *

Yari hated waiting for things to happen. She wanted things to go fast as she could run or as fast as she could change interest, even though she knew some things were out of her small hands.

Thinking back to the festival she could remember hearing Aikido tell her that this was one of his clones and he was going to make sure that she got back home safe and sound.

After his clone under the guise of his mother took her away, she finally noticed what he wanted her as far away from as she could get. There were three people following him. They weren't anyone she saw in this village before and she tried to become friends with everybody she came in contact with. When they got back to her house the clone nodded once and gave her a small smile ruffling her hair before disappearing.

So here she was waiting for some sign of the older man to come back to her so they could finish seeing the festival. Sighing she folded her arms on the table before resting her chin onto those folded arms. She let her gaze wonder to the present she got a few days ago, it glittered from the small amount of moonlight streaming through the window and she had to smile. Even now it still looked beautiful and as long as this was here she knew he would be coming back.

"Yari?" she heard coming from the doorway turning around she wasn't surprised to see her mother walking back into the house with her twin and her father. She knew that they would be surprised to see her back so early. It wasn't her fault that Aikido had to do what he thought of as protecting the village. She bit her lip for a second before answering her mom.

"Yes." She responded turning her gaze back to the rose under the glass dome in the center of the table. She smiled at it once before her smile began to turn into a frown as a snow white petal fell from the flower. She had to blink a few times to make sure what she was seeing was real. Yes a petal actually fell from that flower. She bit her lip and hope that it wasn't a bad sign.

Taking the glass dome on top of it, the first thing she felt was intense cold brushing against her face. She closed her eyes as the cold sparked a fond memory and she had no choice but to smile. Reopening her eyes she moved her hand and touched the stem of the rose; it still felt ice cold and she had to wonder what exactly was causing it to wilt.

A second later the rose shattered. She had to gasp as the room was covered in silver dust from the ice. She whimpered for a second before she let out a scream.

PleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforeverPleasedonotdestroythetidesIwanttowatchthemforever

* * *

'Why did my body react like that?' was his only thought as he leaned against the tree his head resting against the bark of the tree. His body was sore and aching after the attack he didn't mean to take. He looked down and saw the blonde boy he was talking to not even minutes ago there looking up at him with both fear and admiration and he had to wonder again why did he protect him? This person meant nothing to him, or did he?

Sighing somewhat shakily, even breathing seemed to hurt at the moment. He couldn't help but be mad at himself for letting those protective instincts take over.

It all started when he heard the whizzing sound through the air. He knew something was coming because nothing could cut through the water the way something artificial could. He turned around and in an instant the falling water formed a shield and whatever it was slammed against it hard. He saw it split off into five different directions and he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop them all unless they came from the same area. The first two moved to him and he easily forced them to freeze and smash against the shield. It fell to the ground harmlessly and he had to worry about the last three which disappeared somewhere in the trees.

He knew this technique was favored among some of the village nins because of what it did. It was a relentless attack that would not stop until it either tore the target apart or all the charges were used up. The first hit was in the form of a large shuriken. After that first hit was delivered it would split into five different jets of water coming in from different directions. It wouldn't stop unless it met flesh or the master called it off. If it hit a tree it would burst and reform quickly chasing after its target. Those jets wouldn't stop and it took longer than he cared to admit for him to transform the water into ice. He could if it was just one at a time but it wasn't, it was several at a time and he need a lot of concentration to do it with liquid that already had jutsu cast on it.

He made his shield again as all three headed for him again and he had to wonder who it was that was trying to attack him. He knew that he still wasn't as popular with the villagers, yet he believed after Misato was killed that no one would try something like this knowing that he was more than capable of handling himself in a battle and versus one of the highest ranking missing nin's in their bingo book.

He heared the sound of water sloshing around and he had to turn and look at the blonde who was slumped against the tree looking completely exhausted. The clones he made in the fight must have taken more energy out of the young man then he thought. This attack could have been aimed at the young blonde and he couldn't let him get hurt -- he needed answered as to why the thought he was one of their old ninjas.

He pushed the blond so he was back on the ground looking up at him and he dragged a shield strong enough to protect his sides from the assault of the jutsu. He knew that there were three different jets of water coming at him he couldn't make it strong around everywhere form this position so he chose to just deflect the sides, he knew that his back could survive the attack. At least he hoped it could he knew that it would leave one hell of a mark, but he was willing to as long as he got his answers.

He felt the two projectiles hit his shield and braced his back for the third impact. He didn't have to wait long as a searing pain smashed into him. It broke through the skin and probably some other internal muscles that he couldn't quite place yet. He looked down and saw the blonde had his eyes close, maybe he thought that the man was going to kill him now and didn't want to see it happening.

He pressed his head against the tree and it brought him to his present situation. This is exactly the reason why ninja chose to hide emotions when they took to the field. Things like this weren't supposed to happen and when ninja's gained emotion on the battle field they ended up losing their lives.

His hand reached down to touch the blonde locks of their own accord and bright blue eyes stared up at him with slight fear and confusion. He knew that if he was looking at himself now he would be mirroring the blonde's feelings himself. What exactly was he doing?

He coughed a little bit and blood spilled onto the whiskered cheeks of the blonde boy he was shielding. He must have gotten a punctured lung or something. The boy's eyes widened this time in worry as he felt the blood on his body. Giving the young man a smile, he stopped, ruffling the boy's hair as he opened his mouth.

"Hello Naruto." Was the only thing he said before he fell limp into the Konoha ninja's arms.

With the man in his arms the blonde felt tears trickling down his face as he tried to shake the man awake.

"No," he whimpered to himself, "Sensei get up this isn't very funny." He kept shaking the man a few more times before his emotions finally caught up with him. Letting out an anguished scream the blond freaked out trying to get the brown haired mist ninja to get up.

The birds that were seeking shelter in the trees took flight at the anguish scream and then all was silent again.

End of Chapter 6.

A/N: Another chapter coming to a close. I swear I am really bad at cliffhangers and long fight scenes. I think I'm going to start toning them down a little bit or are you people really enjoying them. I mean honestly reason that it takes so long sometimes is because I have to figure out what exactly is going to happen in certain scenes. Have you ever tried to right 4 fight scenes with emotions throw in because argh this chapter had me pounding my head against the wall. Comment if you like or if you don't and I'll see if I can get another chapter out by nov. Wish me luck and I promise this next one won't be more then  
14k words. Bonus points to anyone who can guess where the title came from.


	9. Chapter 7: What Do You Say?

A/N: Thanks to DoomsdayHarbinger for betaing for me. Any errors or mistakes are probably things I didn't catch when I was doing last minute changes before posting. Hope you enjoy this chapter and leave me a review or comment it's appreciated and helps me when I'm writing.

Changing Tides

Chapter 7: What do you say?

The blonde's head was down as he walked with his two teammates. To his left was Sasuke, who kept giving him strange looks every now and then, in front of them all was Kakashi, who seemed to be lost in his own little world. In the center of all of them was the reason that they had to go to the land of mist. The missing ninja who they knew and the cause of the ninjas from their village disappearing.

Naruto looked up at the man's back for a second before looking back down to his feet. He had so many things to ask his old sensei, but he knew that he couldn't. Every time he tried to open his mouth nothing would come out and he would just walk with his head down for a few more feet before he tried again. It was pathetic that he was like a broken record yet; in a situation like this, what could he say? His own teacher, someone he thought of as one of the kindest and gentlest men in the whole village was capable of killing without any remorse. If Naruto really looked underneath, he could almost swear the man was proud of it. To a sense he could see the irony in what he was thinking. A ninja should be proud if they were doing something for their village.

He looked back up at the brown haired man again and saw the headband wrapped around his neck. The one that said he was a Mist ninja and not a Konoha ninja. It brought aches to his heart as he thought of his sensei betraying them all. He knew there must be a reason for why the man was on the team of one of their enemies. His heart sped up a little bit as he tried to think of reasons for him to be in their land and their village not disguised. Then again if he was, why did the Hokage refer to him as missing? He couldn't really be an enemy of their home country could he?

The blonde ninja shuddered and again the black haired teen turned to him this time his gaze lingered on him for longer than it had previously. It wasn't like he was staring back or anything. He looked over at Sasuke and held the stare. It was almost like the dark haired ninja was asking him an inaudible question. He gave him a wry smile and turned back to the man in front of him.

He let the smile fall from his face as he looked at the man. He finally regained consciousness an hour ago. Until he was awake and able to walk about, Kakashi was the one carrying. He protested loudly about seeing his friend carried carelessly over the man's shoulder. A glare from Kakashi and a smart comment about wanting to be gentle with the man who almost killed him shut him up fairly quickly. Ever since the man woke up Kakashi was silent. Taking point and leading them through the forest that would eventually lead them home he seemed to have changed in this mission although Naruto couldn't place why.

It was almost as though the man in front of them shook all of them up more than he could tell. It would make sense that Sasuke and himself would be shaken since he was their former sensei and, as much as he knew Sasuke would never admit it, he cared for his former instructor as well. Kakashi was the one who made no sense as to why he was mad. The last time he checked, the two of them didn't know each other that well before he became Kakashi's student and even then their encounters seemed a bit strained.

He walked forward only to walk into the broad back as the man ahead of him suddenly stopped. Stumbling back a few steps he looked at the man only a few inches taller them himself and watched as the back tensed. The head turned and eyes that were almost as dark as Sasuke's looked him over once.

"You should pay more attention to where you are going." the calm yet firm voice spoke. The eyes focused on him again for a few seconds before his head turned back around to stare at what made him stop.

A snort from his side and a snide "Like that will happen." had him clenching his fists. He turned to look at the black haired boy and growled low in his throat. Taking a few steps forward so that he was a few inches away from the other he narrowed his eyes and grabbed the collar of the other boy's shirt.

"What did you say?" he spat out as he moved his fist into a position to strike his friend. He was already in a bad mood with everything that was going on and his confusion about what to say to that man had him ready for a good fight. Usually anger was a great way for him to forget about everything. Now though, it wasn't nearly the same. One of his precious people was going to go back to the village and they would have to tell exactly what went on during the report. In the report it was more than likely to include the fact that he killed those other ninja and was close to killing the three of them as well. It made no sense why would someone become a traitor. He was happy back home, wasn't he?

"I don't repeat myself." Indifferent was the only way to state how the other teen sounded as he looked at Naruto as nothing more than a minor annoyance he had to deal with. He saw Naruto's jaw clench and knew that in a second he was going to be hit and he realized he didn't mind it at all as long as it stopped the blonde from moping like a sick puppy. Gazing into blue eyes he let one of his infamous smirks to grace his face knowing that it would push the others buttons.

"You bastard! Tell me what you said or else" The blonde yelled. Cocking his fist back he got ready to deliver the punch.

"Or you'll do what you?" Sarcasm leaked from every word. Hardening his gaze at the blonde he opened his mouth and said one more word that he knew would send him over the edge, "Loser."

Letting out an angry yell the blonde swung his fist.

Before it could collide with the other boys face it was caught in a gloved hand and squeezed rather harshly. Looking up at who caught his fist with a look of resentment he couldn't help but glare at his former silver haired instructor. Baring his teeth in anger, he let some of his chakra slip out accidently as he let go of his teammate's collar.

"Now now Naruto." the Jounin twisted the teen's hand a bit to the right with more force then was necessary and gave a slightly happy, if sadistic grin, when the blonde whimpered in pain. "You shouldn't try to attack your fellow ninja you know that all too well." He said as he stared past the blonde to the man who was watching them all curiously.

The man's hair was covering his eyes and it seemed as if he was lost in thought at the moment which he probably was.

"Ouch! Ouch! Let me go!" Twisting the teen tried to bend his arm to relieve the pressure or at least get out of the hold, but Kakashi kept twisting his arm making sure that he was in a bit of pain but not enough to really hurt him. Getting pissed off the blonde swung his other fist hoping to hit the silver haired man or at least get him to let go. He shouldn't have been surprised when the jounin let go of the hold and countered it quickly and effortlessly. He was now facing the strange man and his arm was twisted behind his back where if he made one wrong move it could easily end up broken.

"What did I say about attacking teammates Naruto?" he drawled out as he put a little more pressure onto the hold letting the blonde feel the pain of his arm about to break.

"Ow! Ow! You said I shouldn't try to hurt teammates!" he yelled as he felt the pressure.

"And what have you been doing?" the voice turned into a scolding one as if he were a child. The pressure intensified causing Naruto scream and curse for a few moments.

"Attacking teammates." He said through clenched teeth as he tried to will the pain away, his throat hurting from all the yelling he had been doing. Letting his body feel tired he went lax into the hold.

"What won't you do anymore?" The cheerful voice came back and the teen shivered at how quickly Kakashi's mood changed back and forth.

"Attack my comrades." He sounded defeated or maybe he was just tired, anger was a very draining emotion. When it left, you tended to feel disoriented and somewhat empty and that was how he felt at the moment. His world had changed completely and he had very little to do at the moments outside of reflect and get angry.

He felt his eyes water and he tried to take his mind away from where he was at the moment, back to happier times where he was just a pre-genin. Things had been so much easier then; he could be optimistic and believe that he knew all the good and evils of the world.

The sound of leaves crunching on the forest floor had the two teen's heads shooting up as they let their eyes wonder over to the man who had just begun moving. It was slow and deliberate allowing them to notice his presence, his hands bound in front of him by some rope infused with chakra that Kakashi seemed to have on him for some strange reason. The back of his hands and wrist were decorated with kanji written in his own blood, although it was written it blood outside of that the skin was clean leaving only those dark lines of red. The blood written scrawl was used to seal his chakra and keep him from calling on it. At the moment he was a chakraless ninja who they were going to have to bring back to Konoha to interrogate.

Unconsciously he felt Kakashi let his arm go and knew that the man was probably going to one of the weapons he had hidden on his body. Naruto let his arm drop down barely paying attention to the stinging sensation as he was too focused on Iruka at the moment. The dark haired man hadn't really done anything since he spoke to him a few a minutes ago. Why was he suddenly approaching them now?

Out the corner of his eye he noticed Sasuke moving closer to him, eyes flashing red as he also reached for his weapons. If the man tried to attack any of them at the moment, even without chakra, they wanted to be prepared for it. He was going to go back to their village and he was going to answer for everything he had done or at least explain his reasoning for why he had done it.

When the dark haired man reached the blonde he held his shoulder for a few seconds, too shocked to do anything really as he thought the man hated any Konoha ninja. When the man gave him a small rueful smile he felt the tears come back and knew that this time he couldn't stop them. The man encased him in his arms as he was drawn to that chest. One hand remained on the young man's shoulder as the other stroked his hair soothingly.

"You can let it all out." The voice held nothing in it, it was almost robotic yet the action spoke volumes as the blonde began to cry into the man's chest letting all the anguish of everything he was feeling and the world's cruelty. The strong hand patted his head as the eyes looked between the two remaining men almost daring them to try and take the blonde boy away from him.

The two of them stood there silently as they watch their blonde companion cry into the enemy's chest as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

* * *

The black eyed boy stared at the man with brown eyes in disdain. He didn't really hate the man but for some reason at the moment he couldn't stand the sight of him.

The person he was glaring at was sitting across from him, back against a tree head slightly bowed so long strands were covering his eyes. Glaring at the man wasn't going to help if the man in question wasn't able to look at him directly. He knew that he should be mad at everything that was happening and why it was happening but he couldn't pull together the energy to get mad. The only person he could get mad at was the one he was staring at the moment.

Like Naruto, he was shaken to his very core that someone like Iruka would defect. Not only go rogue but defect to another village and wear their headband proudly. It was so underhanded and sneaky, it was more along the lines of what he did. He had his reasons but he didn't know what his ex-sensei's reasons were and for that he knew that he couldn't judge him too harshly. Everyone had a reason for doing things and not knowing would show bias and he couldn't afford that, at least, not anymore. At one time with his name he knew he could have done all that and more and no one would have cared in the least bit. He was from one of the most powerful clans in Konoha.

"You don't talk much do you?" the voice broke through his thoughts. He was amazed and currently pissed that he let his guard drop so much that he didn't notice the bound man look up. A single brown eye was looking at him as if it was trying to solve a puzzle. The man's mouth closed and drawn in a tight line as he sat up, so his back was perfectly parallel to the tree. The sight was that of a man who was wise was waiting for a child to confession what he did.

"No." keeping it short was the best thing. Telling this man anything would be a bad idea and there was always the chance he could use it to manipulate him or the others on his team later. They didn't know if he was some new person or really was their old sensei so it was always best to play avoidant.

"Why?" the voice asked again and he turned away keeping the man in his peripheral vision. If he paid no attention to the other maybe he would shut up and go back to sleep. He let out a half yawn as he himself was getting somewhat tired. He was assigned first watch by the same means that he was used to as a child.

Kakashi said so.

It was never the best tactic to piss the man off and even now that he was older he knew that some things never changed. Pissing off the elder nin was still a giant no no. He couldn't help but glare at the other man as he let out a grunt and went over to where this man was resting or at least contemplating his situation. So his watch began and left him with the situation he was in at the moment.

He didn't like it so he did what he usually did and tried to radiate as much cold and intense killing aura as he could, hoping he could scare the man into being quiet. He knew that it was a long shot with the power the man displayed in their fight and the fact that he was looking at him with a look that simply said 'it won't work on me'. The man moved his bound wrist up to brush back strands of his hair and he allowed both eyes to stare at the last Uchiha.

"Proper etiquette dictates that when someone talks to you, you should talk back."Aikido said as his hands fell into his lap once again. He knew that this one would be a tough nut to crack, yet he had to do it; he had to know where he was going or at least some information. He was curious why they were so reluctant to fight him and why they kept him alive instead of killing him like most others would do given he was from an enemy village. He knew that nothing would have stopped him from killing them if given the chance.

Then again he had stopped an attack by one of his comrades. He had tried to protect the blonde boy and the evidence of that was still under his shirt.

Iruka. . . they called him that name again and he tried to kill them. They should have tried to kill him or at least finished him off after he protected that blonde. It would have been a lot less work to be dead then to think about things that he knew he could never have answers to. It was becoming increasingly difficult to-

"It also states that you shouldn't talk to those who do not wish to speak with you." The cold voice said.

Aikido looked back to the black haired boy and narrowed his eyes slightly. Yes he knew this one would be difficult, yet he never expect this much resistance. The back of his mind told him that he knew worse was coming. He somehow knew which buttons to press and he was going to press them. The problem was how he knew about this brat. He couldn't recall ever seeing him in his life. Then again he had a giant gap in his memory so he shouldn't be too surprised at that.

If he did have a gap in his memory and he was this person who they said he was, why was he still a mist ninja? When he had been discharged from the hospital he had been followed very closely by several ANBU. He felt their presence even if they hid it very well. Those that followed him must have been new since they let bits and pieces of their chakra slip out every now and then.

Slowly though in the time he's been there less and less have they been pursuing him as a threat and started treating him as an equal. That was one of the prouder things he could say that happen. After the whole fiasco with Misato they seemed to all accept him as he was now. The question there was why he couldn't be accepted as soon as he left the hospital?

A dull throb in the back of his eyes and he had to close them as a headache began to overtake him. He raised his hands to pinch at the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. He still had to respond to the brat.

"What do you know about proper etiquette?" He said as he opened both eyes to look at Sasuke again. "It seems more like you are the type of person who throws those out the window to get what he wants."

The black eyed teen stiffened for a second before closing his eyes as a wave of memories overcame him.

"What do you know about me?" Sasuke said through gritted teeth as he stiffened thinking about his own defection from Konoha. He couldn't say it was his proudest moment but he had a goal and no one was going to stop him from accomplishing it. No matter who or what stood in his way. Even if they were –

"Not a single thing." Aikido said in a laugh. He was getting somewhere, or at least he almost was. It seemed his last word had some effect on the teen, if his posture was anything to go by. He looked at the tension in the boy's shoulders and smirked. He knew he just had to push a bit more.

"I wonder what it is you did." The man smirked a little bit as he turned his whole body to face Sasuke. Oh this one was on the edge of breaking he just knew it. What could he say that would make him lose his temper and give him the information he needed?

"Did you defy your kage?" he questioned the tone light with a hint of humor in it. Aikido's eyes were inquisitive as he looked for any change in the kid's posture.

Sasuke body was stiff as he tried to block out anything that man said. He couldn't afford to lose his cool now. He knew that this person was nothing like the Sensei that he once knew. If he was, wouldn't-

"Did you betray your village?"The question was serious, if the tone of Aikido's voice was anything to go by. His eyes were slightly narrowed as he waited for any reaction from the other.

The teen's head shot up as soon as the question left the prisoner's mouth. He saw those lips twist into a smirk at his reaction and he gritted his teeth as he looked away. Just by him reacting to what that ninja said, told that man enough and he cursed himself for the slip up.

"So you betrayed your village huh? I wonder what they did to make you abandon them?" the cruel smirk was still on the ninja's lips as he raised his arms high above his head to stretch. He knew that the person watching him betrayed his village and that was something he could work with.

"I wonder who it is that you hurt most when you left then?" he kept going as he brought his hands back down. Aikido tilted his head to the side as he kept his gaze on the black haired teen in front of him.

"Was it your family?" Aikido shook his head banishing the thought. "No wait that can't be right." His brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to place his thoughts. He knew that the kid couldn't have betrayed his family. The reason why was on the tip of his tongue.

Closing his eyes he let his mind wonder for a few seconds. He asked himself the question again, why couldn't that kid have betrayed his family? Then he saw it floors and walls painted with crimson. A declared missing ninja one of the best anyone had ever seen, a prodigy.

"Your brother killed them all." Aikido's eyes opened and again let his gaze rest one the boy who got up fist clenching as he tried to represses his rage.

Even after he got his revenge Sasuke still didn't like to be reminded of the death of his family. It made him remember a time when he was too weak to do anything. So pathetic he didn't even deserve to be killed like the rest of them having to live while all the hatred for his brother festered. Having to strive hard to learn everything he could, just so that he could avenge them by any means possible. The betrayal he was capable of even if he had to turn his back against everyone who believed in him. Against-

"Was it that pink haired girl?" a new question caught his attention and he felt eyes on him again, he knew it was still that of the man badgering him.

Narrowing his eyes at the man he stalked forward, hands still balled into fist at his side, until he was a few inches in front of the older man.

"What do you know about the pink haired girl?" Sasuke said in his most threatening voice. He knew again scaring that man was impossible, but he had to try. How could he say that he knew nothing about them but showed knowledge of things that only Kohona knew? Things that even among, Konoha citizens, was still classified information that only select few know. Like what he had done to Sakura before he left.

The grin on the brunette's face twisted, making it look menacing.

"Not a single thing." Aikido said again, reiterating his earlier statement to the raven haired teen. "At least I didn't until now." The man stood up quickly rising to his full height which was slightly taller than Sasuke.

"You know nothing about me." Sasuke growled as he grabbed the collar of Aikido's shirt, fisting the material with his left hand.

"You're right," Aikido stared, his grin never leaving his face," but I do know who you hurt the most." Akido's eyes flickered in the direction where Naruto and Kakashi were resting in a tent.

"It was the blonde boy, wasn't it?" Aikido's eyes rolled back to meet those of Sasuke. "You did more than just hurt him emotionally when you left." He closed his eyes for a brief second before he opened them again, the brown eyes staring intently at those black ones. "You almost killed him." He finished waiting for the teen to react.

The hand holding Aikido's collar began to shake in rage as Sasuke lost all control of his emotions. His eyes narrowed to twin slits as he raised his right hand. This man who looked like his old sensei didn't know when to shut up and he was just the person to make him. He pulled his fist back before bring it forward in an attempt to punch the infuriating man.

The brunette moved his head slightly to the left as the chakra infused punched missed his head by an inch and hit the tree he let himself be held against. Pieces of the trunk exploded from the force of the punch sending splinters of wood flying in every direction.

The teen looked at what he did in shock before he released his grip on the man, back peddling away and going back to his previous position.

The long haired man stayed there for a second, hair covering his face as he looked through long strands of brown to the kid. He let out a chuckle, as he realized what he had just done.

He broke the kid.

* * *

The sunlight was filtered by the thick canopy of the trees as the ninjas continued on their trek to Konoha. It wouldn't take them that much longer to reach their home, yet something weighed heavily on them all.

Iruka.

That is what was on all their minds at the moment.

What was going to happen to him once they reached the village? Would he be welcomed back with open arms or would he be trialed for the crimes he has committed?

Sasuke and Naruto were in front talking about something in hushed tones that the mist ninja couldn't hear. He was able to see a somber expression on the face of the older of the two. Aikido resisted the urge to smile as he knew he was the cause of that expression.

Casting his glance at the silver haired man he had to admit he was curious about this one. Out of them all this was the only person whom had not said a word to him. The only thing that could be close to being spoken to was when he made that comment about attacking teammates to the blonde.

That in its self was strange. He could remember that dark colored eye looking at him with a hidden meaning that he couldn't decipher, even now, the moment long since passed.

Now that man wouldn't even look at him. That in its self was strange. He didn't seem to be concerned with him at all. It was almost as if the man was trying to deny his existence. He knew that wasn't the truth though, the man's posture was lazy, although it seemed to have an edge to it. Almost like it was waiting for him to do something, anything at all. He would hate to disappoint the man but he wasn't exactly a hundred percent at the moment.

He looked down to his bound wrist and the kanji scrawled across his skin. He wondered how the man knew that this particular seal would work on him at all. Accessing his chakra reserves he felt it coming to the surface begging to be used as his blood sung with his limit. He could feel the air around him turn slightly colder.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The deep voice of the man said. Not even casting him a glance as he focused more on what was in front of him then what was behind or beside him.

"Oh and why is that?" Aikido asked as he let more of his chakra flare out. It was so close to being released and being able to be shaped into what he could use as a weapon. One he could use to try and get away from these nuisances that entered his life. All he had to do was-

Gasping he began to cough as the air left his lungs and his chest felt like it was on fire. His lungs felt like they were being crushed and he couldn't catch his breath no matter how hard he tried. It felt like he was suffocating. Tears came to his eyes as the beginnings of asphyxiation took hold of him.

Looking at the writer of this seal he noticed the man didn't even stop walking while he was back here falling to his knees due to lack of oxygen.

Dispersing the chakra he had gathering in his body he felt instant relief as air flowed normally and he could breathe again. Taking a few deep breathes he coughed a little to get the air flowing again. He held back the urge to vomit as he shakily got back to his feet.

"What the hell was that!" he yelled causing all three of them to turn and look at him. The two teens both turned and looked at him with confused looks while that white haired man looked at him with a smug look.

"I warned you, didn't I?" Kakashi said as they all turned back around and kept on walking. The mist ninja slowed down his pace since they didn't seem to be paying him any mind at all. If they kept walking in front of him at their constant pace they would soon be far enough from him so that he could easily slip away and escape.

Slowing down to a snail's pace he watched as they moved further and further away, leaving him to stand in the forest by himself. Coming to a complete stop he began to turn around when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come now we can't have you falling behind can we?" the voice of that silver haired man said again as he was pushed roughly forward. Stumbling forward a few feet he got his bearings and turned around to see the man smile, his mask stretching over his mouth and his eye curving in an arch. He turned back around and noticed that he was directly behind the two younger ninja again.

'Did he teleport me?' he thought as he halted for a second before he began moving again, 'I didn't even feel him gather any chakra.'

Keeping up with the two younger ninja he looked down at the kanji again. He knew he had to get rid of this seal and somehow get away.

Raising his hand up a bit he heard that same infuriating voice call out "I wouldn't do that either."

He ignored it as he brought his hand up to his mouth. Looking at it once he decided that it was his own blood and he could stand to ingest it. Sticking his tongue out he slowly licked the writing.

Body stiffing, he felt what one could only describe as an electrical current flow through his body. He head flew back as if he was punched. Aikido wasn't able to feel his tongue or lips at the moment and he could almost swear that he saw smoke rising from the writing on his hands.

"What was that?" he yelled at the cause of his new numbness.

"I warned you." The man smiled again as he moved next to the ninja.

"What was that?" Aikido said again, this time growling as eyes narrowed at the jounin. Biting his lip hard he tried to get some feeling back into it. He abandoned the idea once the coppery taste of blood began to fill his mouth.

"Well," Kakashi started as he scratched the back of the head with his right hand. He looked at Aikido with his uncovered eye and held out his left hand "you know what happens when you give electricity a conductor." He finished and Aikido could almost see electricity dance across his fingers for a second before it disappeared.

Clenching his jaw tightly he stopped himself from replying. It looked like everything he could do was either watched closely or there was some type of trap that was just waiting for him to trigger it. He had to admit the man was good at what he did. For now he would follow the rules.

He started walking again in the center all three of the ninja, the two young ones continuing their conversation. Even now that he was closer to them he still didn't hear a word they were saying due to the hushed tones they were speaking in.

Letting out a sigh, he realized that his efforts would be futile.

Look at the passing scenery he noticed that the trees seemed to moving, swaying as if by and invisible force. If he stared hard enough he could almost swear that there were people in the trees moving swiftly from branch to branch.

He shook his head and faced forwards again. He wasn't seeing things, was he?

Looking back to the trees, he saw something. Slowing down a bit, he tried to locate it. He just had to locate it once just to tell himself he wasn't insane.

There it was! He saw it!

Freezing in the middle of his next step he came to the quick realization that he would have rather not seen it then to see it. The object in his gaze was turning to meet his eyes. He started at it for a second.

What was he looking at? He could have sworn that person was smiling at him, almost as if he's been on this path before. He saw the man had silver hair and unlike the jounin next to him he had both eyes uncovered. The strange thing was that image made his back ache painfully and made his skin crawl. He felt rage take over his body and he wanted to gather his chakra to chase the image.

He took a deep breath and stopped himself from chasing after it. After the little choking fit from earlier he was against trying to call his chakra again.

Closing his eyes and shaking his head he looked back to where he saw the phantom and noticed it was gone.

It didn't stop with just that person though. A whole army of ninja was racing across the trees causing them to sway and move as those ninja jumped from branch to branch. Some stopped to smile at him; the more serious ones kept going, not paying him any mind. A few of them were falling to the floor in a way that he knew they were dead.

He stopped as he watched them pass him. He lost count after thirty and realized he had no idea what he was looking at. He closed his eyes hoping that they would be like the first and disappear.

Opening them he noticed that not only did they not disappear they multiplied. What was he looking at?

He stumbled back a few steps and bumped into the silver haired man. The man clasped his shoulders in his hands, but he couldn't look at him though too hypnotized by the march of ninja that seemed to be going to where they were headed to now.

His head started hurting and clutching it in pain he bent over and closed his eyes as letting out a soft whimper.

A memory that is what he believed he was seeing. The question was why he was seeing them now. Was this village a place full of memories for him. Was he the one who killed those who were falling out the trees?

What was going on!

"Sensei?" he heard the voice of the blonde. It was soft as if trying not to make his headache any worse. He ignored it.

Opening his eyes as that pain subsided a bit. He noticed that the images were all gone but the three ninja were giving him weird looks.

Forcibly removing himself from the man's grasp he started thinking. He knew that this wasn't the first time he saw a phantom. If he remembered it was the day before the festival and he was chasing one that looked like-

His eyes opened as he zoomed in on the blonde. What he saw could be described as a younger version of him, the same whisker marks marred the face of the young ghost he was chasing.

The bigger question was why he let that teen cry on him earlier. He didn't know him yet; he saved him before and let the kid cry on him. Why would he do that with a ninja who wasn't even part of his village? Was it because he was that ghost and he couldn't stand seeing the teen being so sad?

His head started to hurt again.

What was the blonde's name? He knew it what it began with, but why couldn't he say it right now.

He turned around and looked at the person who had taken to reading a book. He felt anger looking at that orange color. He knew he needed to do something about it.

"Kakashi!" he heard his own voice growl out.

The addressed head shot up. Sasuke's and Naruto's gazes both went back to him.

What was going on?

* * *

Home.

What would someone call home?

To everyone home could be called something different.

For Naruto home was a place where his friends gathered. The place he hoped to one day to lead. To be known as the greatest Hokage to ever lead the village of Konoha. A place, that he would put his life on the line to protect, no matter if they were in the right or wrong. Where he could get the best ramen in the world and where he could visit his friends no matter what time of day it was. Where he was known and loved. A place he was not just the demon fox container. For Naruto, Konoha was his home.

For Sasuke home was a little different from Naruto. His was a place where his family gathered and shared stories. Where his older brother was always watching him and taking care of him. Where his mother made the best food out of any he tasted. It was a time where his father finally started to pay attention to him and not just his brother. Where he could go outside and play with his countless cousins. A place where the halls were filled with talk and laughter not just filled with sounds of the wind. A place where he could try or ask for help and someone would listen. He knew he lost his home long ago and he was searching for a new one. For Sasuke, home was a memory that he held close to his heart so that no one could ever take it away. The one good memory he had of his family before their untimely death.

Kakashi's idea of home was quite simple compared to the others. His was a place where he could let down his guard. A sanctuary where he didn't have to wear any of the masks he used in public. Somewhere there was a person at home waiting for him to arrive. Where he knew he would be greeted with a warm smile, open arms, and a kiss. Where he didn't have to do anything but sleep and be human. Where he could finally admit how he felt about a certain teacher.

Looking out the corner of his eye he eyed Iruka. Was he really Iruka? Could he truly be that person named Aikido?

He sighed and kept walking towards the gate that would allow them to enter the village.

Back in the village of the mist, Kato's home was incomplete. Ever since the Solstice festival ended and his nephew has not been seen since then. Behind his desk he felt a loss he hasn't felt since his sisters left home and left him to deal with their father alone.

The one remaining member of his family finally given to him whose real name was written on the back of a letter. Where he held a piece of a porcelain mask, which belonged to the Anbu that helped his sister escape. The same one that was executed by his father for not telling him where he escorted her. Where he knew that Aikido's real name was Iruka and he was too afraid to tell him for fear of jogging his memory and having his family leave him alone again. Where every few minutes he would get up to take a look out the window hoping to see the long haired man coming to the tower to see him. Where his heart would begin to beat faster, in hope, every single time someone would open the door to his office without his permission.

No, Kato's home was incomplete and hasn't been complete for days.

Home.

That is what a home was. You should feel happy when you are returning home.

They said that he was from this village.

Aikido sighed as he let his mind race a bit. There was no way that he could be from this village. He didn't feel nostalgic or excited. He didn't feel happy or sad. To be honest he was pretty apathetic about the whole thing. At least he was trying to be.

As they approached the gate the two guards looked excited and begin to run towards the four of them.

'No.' Aikido thought as he continued walking towards the guards, his head held high. He was not embarrassed about being caught he was a proud mist ninja.

This was NOT his home. He kept that thought in his head as the guards grew closer smiles on their faces.

But if this wasn't his home, why did he feel like crying?

End of Chapter 7

**looks at the last time he updated** Holy Shit it's been a while hasn't it? I mean literally it's been a year and some change since I updated this story. I have not forsaken it as you can see. I bring a new chapter and more drama. Did you think this chapter was dramatic? I think it was really crazy to be honest. I am rereading this story and amazed at some of the stuff I did? Are you amazed as well? Let me know! Review! **gives you sad puppy eyes** I want to hit 100 reviews! Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Hell let me know what you think of this story for you people who are just getting into it. This chapter was supposed to be out after I wrote "Gift" but the writer's block demon is evil. . . Also you might like "Gift" if you haven't read that. Different Genre and Category but a cute fic as said so by a few people.

**Smacks his forehead as he does shameless self promotion. **

Bonus Time! The name of this chapter is again from somewhere take a wild guess.

Until next update!

And no I am not going to hold chapters hostage. Seriously I'm done now.

**walks away muttering to himself**


	10. Chapter 8 Part 1: Me Against You

A/N: Thanks to Radkoko for betaing for me. Any errors or mistakes are probably things I didn't catch when I was doing last minute changes before posting. Hope you enjoy this chapter and leave me a review or comment it's appreciated and helps me when I'm writing.

Changing Tides

Chapter 8

Part 1: Me Against You

The room was dark.

There was a faint light coming from the only entrance to the room but that was it. It was not enough to light up the room but, it did give the man inside the ability to barely see his surroundings, well the floor of his surroundings anyway. The light was a dim neon color that could only come from a florescent bulb. It would slowly give out every now and then bathing the room completely in darkness only to turn on once again.

The only sound was the dim buzzing that accompanied the light outside and even then he could barely hear it. That sound was probably the only thing that gave him something to focus on so that he could keep his mind sharp. There was not much else to hear unless you counted the bindings on his wrist that rattled every time he moved an inch.

The man was on his feet; his wrist encased in manacles and hung on a hook that extended from the ceiling. He was able to touch the ground so it wasn't as uncomfortable as it could have been. His arms were stretched out so that he felt a small amount of pain but he didn't feel like his arms were going to be pulled from their sockets. Being in this position was a mild annoyance to him. He could tolerate it though as he was trained for things like this.

He looked up and could barely make out a long metal rod that was holding the hook in position. It was a strong metal and even if he tried to swing the rod would not budge an inch. He tried it several times hoping to gain enough momentum to free his self by slipping the chain off the hook. After the tenth attempt he realized it was a futile effort as the hook was curved enough that if he hadn't tried to unhook himself he could have sworn that it was a ring. Whoever built this cell did not want their prisoner to escape.

Grunting a bit, he pulled down with as much weight as he could afford hoping to make the hook come down at least another inch so he could rest the soles of his feet against the concrete floor. This also proved to be a futile effort as all it did was hurt his arms and give him the sensation that they were coming out of their sockets.

He pulled his hands apart and heard the rattle of the chains that kept him from bringing his arms down and resting them at his side. It wasn't very long but it was a bit more comfortable then the charka rope he was bound in when he first entered this village.

His dark eyes looked around his prison again and he saw nothing in his field of vision the shadows only served to make the room look bigger. Looking in the direction the door was he let his eyes wander down again to the little bit of light coming through it.

He wished they would do something, anything to him so that he wouldn't be here in this eternal silence that was slowly driving his already fragile mind off the deep end. To some, this would be considered a mixed blessing since they weren't in here and trying to extract information out of him like most men in his situation would have to endure. He knew that was one of the tactics an interrogator used to try and break down their prisoner's will. Bathe them in darkness and if the ninja was weak minded they would start talking to themselves and crack as soon as anybody came in. It was one of the things that separated some of the lower ranks from the higher ones. Fear of darkness was not a new fear to anyone, but being able to keep your cool and mind while in a situation tended to make you a bit more resilient to what they were going to do to you later. At least some would become more resilient. He knew of others who would break as soon as someone entered and began to question them.

The light flickered off and bathed him into darkness once more and he tried once again to gain momentum to try and swing his self off the hook that he was placed on. He growled as again he was stopped by whatever ridges were placed on the hooks to slow him down and make him immobile. He shook the chains for a second hearing them rattle reminding him of the situation he was currently in.

Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself down as he was starting to get worked up over nothing. The silence was a good thing he rationalized. This meant they weren't here prodding his mind and calling him by _that name_. They were not filling his head with lies about him belonging to this village. No one was here asking him why his allegiance shifted from Konoha to Kiri. No one was here asking him what happened on his mission when he left here all those months ago.

His thoughts came to a crashing halt.

'Mission when I left here.' He turned the thought over in his head and realized it made no sense at all. The last mission he could recall was the one where he was assigned to kill Misato and that wasn't too long ago. There was no way he could have been on a mission from this village if he couldn't recall a single thing from before that. He only had his instinct to go by and that was pointing to them all being liars.

Yet, one thing didn't make sense.

He took another deep breath and closed his eyes staring at the darkness behind his eyelids. The simple fact was, he was alive, granted he was breathing in the stagnate air of this cell, but he was breathing. That is what didn't make sense to him at all. Most ninjas tended to kill their target or find some way to incapacitate them long enough to get them to their own village. Then they would wake them up in some of the most harmful and effective ways possible. One of them being the situation he was currently in.

Opening his eyes he looked back at the light under the cell door. He knew several different techniques that could be used to put someone out of action for anything from minutes to days to weeks. He heard of several members of his village's ninjas being able to keep some people under for months at a time by slowing their heart rate to an almost standstill. The silver haired man, Kakashi, should have known several ways to keep him under and unconscious. He was in Mist's Bingo Book for a quite a few reasons and it was part of his reputation him that he knew over thousand jutsus. He had to at least know one way to knock out a prisoner for the trip back to this village. The question was why he didn't use it?

To be honest when he woke up over the silver man's shoulder he was surprised to be carried almost gently. Granted it wasn't the gentlest way to carry someone but it wasn't as rough as it could have been. He felt the smooth gliding that could only come from years of being a ninja and was surprised to notice that he was carried firm enough to not be dropped but not constricting as if he was a prisoner. He was almost carried like he was an injured friend.

If he remembered well he could recall how startled he was to be over someone's shoulder but he wasn't as afraid as he should have been. He felt a strange sense of comfort that he shouldn't have felt with an enemy. The thought that he felt comfortable around those three when he first woke up was not what he had planned. It was those thoughts that kept him from opening his eyes completely and letting anyone know he was awake. He knew that they had a seal on him; he could still feel the lingering traces of some force that was applied to his hand. He couldn't have anything like that happening so it was with some resistance that he drove his knee into the man's sternum and started their whole episode that lead him here back to this village and presently into this cell.

The sounds of something shuffling across the ground had the man looking at the door. At the current moment it sounded far away barely audible over the buzz of that light outside. The sound was slowly getting louder letting him know they were getting closer and he had to wonder about the layout of where he was. He wondered if there were other cells like this around and if they were heading to one or was someone finally coming to take care of him. Either way it didn't matter it's not like he had much of a choice in their decision. He was just another prisoner to them and he had no say in when someone was going to see him. He also wondered if whoever was coming to do whatever to him was a ninja. Those sounds were not something a ninja made they tended to be silent and stealthy, unless it was another tactic to try and break a prisoner.

The sounds of shuffling stopped right outside his cell before what sounded like keys were being jingled. The rattling sound was heard for a few moments as whoever it was tried to find the right key to this door. The tumblers made soft clicking sounds as the key was inserted into the lock and turned. The lock clicked into an unlocked position sounding very loud in the quiet cell where he was kept. He knew that is was just his mind making it sound so loud but even he had to suppress a wince as his ears rang a little bit. The sound of a handle being turned and he saw a slim column of light as the cell door was slowly being opened.

Closing his eyes from the incoming light he had to wince as it his eyes despite his efforts. He knew that going from darkness to light was a quick way to go blind but even the softness of the neon light outside didn't stop the stinging of the sensation.

He saw an image of a burly man with scars across his face in his mind's eye. The man was wearing Konoha's headband proudly on his head. He saw a quick grin aimed in his direction and Aikido had to wonder where this image came from unbidden. He shook his head to quickly get rid of the image.

Squinting slightly as he opened his eyes he did a quick appraisal of the person who stood in the doorway. It was a tall man, probably taller than him, with blonde hair that was slicked back with gel. The man's eyes were a red color and those eyes were narrowed as they looked at him. He was wearing what looked like leather pants that were tucked into booted feet as well as a long leather jacket that was kept open to show the black vest underneath. In his left hand, which he noticed was gloved; he held the skeleton key that he just used to open the door.

"Hope I didn't interrupt any of your mundane thinking." The voice was deep and held a dark tone with a bit of an accent to it. One he wasn't sure he ever heard before.

The man moved his right hand and he hit a switch on the wall. It bathed the room in yellowish light and again Aikido found himself having to close his eyes from the bright shine of the bulb this time it was a lot harder to get out of his eyes as it was in his cell.

He heard a chuckle and knew it was probably the man laughing at his discomfort. He heard the sound of the man's boots hitting the floor as he walked in a few feet and closed the door behind him. The metal door gave a screech as it was once again closed.

Opening his eyes again he almost jumped back when he realized the other man was just inches away from his face staring at him with red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the light.

"You know," the man started as he began to walk around him like a predator analyzing its prey, "I don't see what's so special about you." He said as he left the man's vision completely now standing behind the captive. He allowed his eyes to take over everything once quickly before he moved clockwise again till he was standing back in front of the man.

"You see our head of T & I was startled to hear that you were here."

_Ibiki_ the name was supplied by his mind and he had to wonder where it came from. He didn't know anybody named Ibiki and the only person he knew that was head of T&I was named Serif and he was back in Kiri probably doing the same thing that the man before him was most likely going to start soon.

"To be honest almost everyone was confused what to do with you." the blonde haired man went on. His eyes staring straight into Aikido's, never wavering although they were slightly narrowed. "Half of them wanted to release you and the other half wanted the pleasure of doing this to you themselves." The man took a step back. "They were all eliminated from the possible chance of this session. You know the rules about torturing those you know."

Aikido's eyes widened a fraction at the words of the man. He didn't have any friends here, not the head of T&I and not anyone at all. How could they keep saying these kinds of things to him and maintain a straight face. This was probably one of those routines to get him to open up to integration and he knew that no matter what they said he had to keep his tongue in his mouth and not tell them anything.

"Now now, don't make those faces. You see I'm very good at what I do." The man said moving his hand under his coat and to the back of his pants from the look at it. In a second he pulled out a kunai the light glinting off the steel as he slowly turned it from side to side.

The man moved close to him again and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. He brought the kunai under the material and began to cut it vertically. The small holes from the fishnet made it quite easy to cut almost giving him the impression the man was cutting through butter. When the man reached the collar he quickly pulled the kunai back and waved it for a second before ripping the cloth off the man with his free hand. It gave a loud rip as the rest of the seams were forcibly stretched to breaking. He felt the material pull against his skin as it was bent in a direction it wasn't supposed to before he heard more rips and the telltale sign of his shirt being destroyed. When the man was done he dropped the cloth to the floor and started at it in disinterest for a moment before turning to look back at him.

Again the interrogator began to walk around him look him up and down stopping at his back before placing a gloved hand over the wound he had acquired not that long ago. The man ran a gloved hand up and placed it where he knew the other scar that decorated his back was. The old wound he caught glimpses of but never really quite knew how he got it.

"So this is the legendary wound you got from defending that brat." The man muttered more to himself then to the person who's back he was touching

"It seems you have been injured though in almost the same spot how befitting. I heard he was one of the ones to bring you back here." The man ran his gloved hand down to where the flesh was still trying to mend its self from where the Water Burst Shuriken tore into his flesh. He almost expected the man to press a hand against the wound causing him pain and trying to make him scream out.

When he felt the cool feeling of healing charka pouring into his skin he almost had to turn around and ask the man what he was doing. He held his tongue though. It would not to do question the man. He was already surprised that the man had revealed a lot to him so far without really saying anything at all.

His hair was pulled down harshly and he had to look up into red eyes of the man who had just healed his wound.

"Don't mistake what I did for kindness." The voice said low and sinisterly that he had to suppress a shudder. The man pulled Aikido's hair down harder and he had to wince at pain in his skull from the pulling. "I rather you not be harmed before we had the proper chance to discuss things." The man said before he released the Aikido's hair pushing him forward slight to bump his chin into his chest. The blonde walked back in front of him and held the kunai again.

In an instant he was in front of Aikido and cutting into his skin. He kept his jaw clenched as he felt the pain of the kunai in his chest. It wasn't hitting anything vital at all it just seemed to be cutting away at flesh and muscle of his chest. He felt the blood running down his chest and kept his breathing as steady as he could. No need to get worked up over it. Nothing was being broken and he knew that the man could inflict a lot more damage to him then just cutting his skin. He did allow himself to relax a bit when the man finished.

He felt the cooling effect of healing chakra and had to look down to see just what the man did. In the center of his chest were four curved lines that he instantly remembered from his headband. The man had just carved into his chest his village's symbol and healed it to where it scabbed over lightly.

"It wouldn't do to have you forget where you are from now would it?" The man questioned as he once again reached behind his back this time pulling out a black bandanna. The blonde walked behind him again as he unfurled it and in a second his head was yanked back as the bandanna was forced into his mouth and roughly tied tightly at the back of his head. He almost muffled a sound but he realized that is probably what the man wanted and why he chose this tactic.

"Wouldn't want you to bite off your tongue on me now would we?" Aikido could swear this time that the man's eyes did glow.

Aikido could already start to smell the scent of the blood on his chest and knew that before this man was done he would smell a lot more of it.

* * *

Manicured nails drummed on the desk as the woman held her head in one hand. She gazed at the three men gathered in her office and wondered what they could have all been around for. From the fact that three of them were in her office and not turning up missing had her smiling internally since she knew that they would be able to take care of any threat.

With a sigh she took her head off her hand and leaned forward on her desk interlacing fingers together she placed her chin on top of them, as she looked them all over once again.

Sasuke was looking out a window as if he rather be anywhere but here. Naruto wasn't his usual bubbly self and chose instead to look at the tiles in her office. Kakashi had his book out but instead of that slouched over position he was standing up straight and she could see his eye wasn't really reading what was in front of him if him being on the same page for minutes now was any indication.

She knew after this she was going to need a drink. Hell she was tempted to have a drink now and she didn't even know why.

"Speak." She said loudly enough for them all to stop what they were doing and look at her.

Not a single word was spoken and this caught her interest in an instant. Most times when she told them to speak someone would start rambling about something, anything, just so they could get her attention. Just the simple fact that no one was speaking told her this was probably worse then what she originally thought it was.

"Fine." she muttered. She cast her gaze on Kakashi and narrowed her eyes at him. Making a come here motion with her left hand she pointed to a spot in front of her desk and growled.

The silver haired man slowly made his way to the front of her desk and gave her a blank look as he tucked away his favorite orange book. He tilted his head to the side as if asking her what she wanted and Tsunade knew that it was just something to piss her off even more. The man had the nerve to scratch the back of his head as if he was nervous but she wasn't buying it.

"Report." was uttered in no a bullshit voice. That voice was enough to make Naruto snap to attention and even Sasuke with his already perfect postured stoop up straighter. The silver haired man didn't change much if anything this made him fall back into his usual slouch that she was more used to seeing when he was in the village.

"Jounin Hatake Kakashi reporting-"

"I already know that!" she yelled at the man as he started his report in the most infuriating way possible. She knew the mission number rank and the likes of it. She was the one who assigned it to the man and his team and knew that it was his way of pissing her off.

"Start with mission specifications and go from there." she said through gritted teeth

"The mission specifications were to proceed to the village of the Mist under the guise of tourist and figure out why Konoha's ninjas had suddenly been disappearing. Since the village would be having a festival where they would allow almost in one in it was the best time to infiltrate."

"A little more than a week ago we set out for Kiri. The trip to the harbor was uneventful and it didn't take much time at all to get there. We stayed in a hotel for the night and boarded a ship in the morning. There wasn't anything unexpected about the trip although there was this irritating kid who kept asking me why I wore a mask and wouldn't leave me alone for the entire trip."

The silver haired mans eye seemed to narrow a bit as he thought of that young child who kept insisting he was a ninja cause he chose to keep his mask on while being undercover. He knew he could have probably transformed with a jutsu and not wore his mask but, without it he felt naked and he rather wear it then not. Masks weren't uncommon in the ninja world.

"When we left the ship we were greeted by four mist ninja. They really didn't care who we were or what we were doing there it seemed as long as we made no commotion or disturbed the festivities they said it was ok." The man closed his eye for a second before opening it back up and continuing his report. "As we entered the village gates I felt a familiar chakra. I didn't know who it belonged to but I knew I felt it before. I could tell it was one of ours. When I tried to search for it, it disappeared before I had a chance to locate it. "

"Wait, you felt his chakra and didn't care to let us know it?" The blonde said fist at his side clenching in anger. "If you would have told us earlier maybe we could have all been able to look for him!"

"Look for whom?" Tsunade asked curiously.

They shared a look and she saw Naruto started to fidget.

"I'll ask again. Look for whom?" she said through gritted teeth. It seems that they were all trying to give her the run around and it was slowly working on her nerves.

"It was one of our ninjas." Kakashi answered but the way he said it was cryptic.

"Well that is good news did you find him?" she asked her bad mood disappearing in light of what was just said. If they found at least one of the ninjas who had gone missing it meant that there was hope that the other ones were still alive somewhere and their families would be overjoyed.

She looked behind Kakashi and saw Sasuke and Naruto share a look and the blonde wincing.

The silver haired man looked at her with a blank expression.

"As I said it was brief and we were being guided by mist ninja I couldn't exactly break away from the group to go wondering after a chakra signature I thought I felt. It was only for a brief second then it was gone. We stayed there for the night and then continued with our mission. We split up to try and see if we could find anything suspicious. I ended up in a little tavern and over heard two people talking about a ninja who just killed a traitor in their bingo book." Kakashi closed his eyes trying to remember the words of the conversation and omitting the unimportant parts of it. "The man was mad about not being able to kill the woman and mentioned something about turning people into husks of skin. That was all I was able to gather from them but it seemed that whatever they were talking about kept the man upset. They also mentioned a new ninja joining their ranks in the past year."

"Well you said you split up what happened to the two of you." She looked in Sasuke's direction.

"I happened to stumble upon a concert they seemed to be having. I cannot say that what I got was anywhere near what Kakashi obtained. The only thing that really happened was a women was speaking to me about," He had to fight down a blush as he thought back to what that woman said. "how she saw me with Kakashi and Naruto." He thought it was best to go ahead and avoid what the women truly talked about since it wasn't important to the mission and he didn't want to deal with his feelings for the blonde just yet. "It was rather weird that she saw me with them, I couldn't sense any chakra from her at all and when I was leaving she took the stage I think she was a singer or something."

The blonde stepped forward and wrung his hands together as he knew it was his turn to tell his own story of what happened when they split up. He locked eyes with the other blonde before he began.

"I went to some area called La. Yeah that's it two letters long what kind of district is only two letters longs I mean come on! What is wrong with who-"

"Naruto, you're rambling." Tsunade interjected.

"Sorry." He said hastily as he tried to organize his thoughts on what he wanted to say. He decided since no one else spoke of it he would have to it was part of his report. He shot the dark haired teen a look wondering why he didn't do it but then he realized that he only saw him after he did. He also wondered if the chakra Kakashi was talking about was Iruka's.

"I was walking minding my own business when some guy pushed me. I almost got into a fight with him about me watching where I was going but I was trying to keep a low profile. If I wasn't I would have totally kicked his ass. Anyway, this guy comes and helps me out his name was Serif. He treated me to ramen and that was pretty much it."

"Is that all?" The leader asked.

"There is one other thing, I saw Iruka. At least I thought it was him I wasn't sure so I sought out the first person I could find and when I found Sasuke we were both sure that it was him."

"He approached me shortly after the concert and I noticed him as well I wasn't too sure since he had his hair was down but the scar on his face made me strongly believe it was him." Sasuke said

"I met up with the two of them and confirmed that I also saw him. I change the mission to find and pursue him. It seemed that he knew we were behind him because he led us out of the village and into the forest surrounding it before he stopped into a clearing." Kakashi continued with what happened on the mission.

"What did he say?" Tsunade was not curious this mission wasn't like any she heard before and she heard quite a lot of mission reports. Ninjas that went missing didn't turn up a year later unless they were rogue.

She paled at her thought.

"He stood there waiting for us to approach him. Naruto tried run and hug him but he ended up hugging a tree and almost had a weapon lodged into his head. He asked who we were."

"I called him Iruka-sensei but he only seemed to get angry at that and straight out attacked us." The blonde teen uttered closing his eyes tightly as he replayed what happened in his mind. "He admitted that he. . . that he. . ."

"That he was the one who killed all the other ninja." Sasuke finished for the blonde who was now shaking and blinking back tears.

"WHAT!" she yelled getting up from her chair with such force that she knocked it back.

"He openly admitted he killed every single one of our ninjas who set foot in the village. He also said that his name wasn't Iruka it was Aikido. He attacked us all with clones but we were able to kill them off." Kakashi continued the report.

"Was he under control? Was it a disguise? Could you break the control? Was it a Genjutsu" The woman rapidly fired off her questions hoping that what he was saying wasn't true.

"He wore their headband around his neck. I checked to see if there was any nearby chakra but there was no trace of a controller. The only person there was him and he was trying to kill us."

The woman slumped her energy leaving her. She was upset that she lost a good ninja and if she was right they probably killed him off.

"Someone attacked Naruto. He protected him with his abilities and passed out. I was able to tie him up with chakra rope and we brought him back."

She sighed in relief if he was back that means mist wouldn't have gotten his-

"Wait you said he asked who you were?" she asked cautiously not sure if she heard right the first time.

"Yes he asked us who we were before he attacked us. It seems he doesn't remember who he is." Kakashi reiterated

"Memory Loss?" she placed a hand on the desk leaning over it slightly to stare into Kakashi's eye.

"I don't know. Sometimes he seems to have a bit of his memory and other times he seems to be completely Aikido."

"When he saved me he called me by my name before passing out," Naruto said.

"On the way back he spoke of my betrayal. He said he didn't know anything about me but he was able to recall exactly what happened the night I left the village." The black haired teen didn't like to bring up his betrayal at all and rather it stay buried, yet he knew in a moment like this that important fact could save or kill the man who was in jail currently.

"He also called me by my name before reaching over to try and steal my book. When I pulled it away from him he stared at me for a second then looked confused and then he went silent." Kakashi added.

"So we're not sure if he has his memory or not? He shows signs of it once in a while yet other times he is this Aikido person?" she wanted to get everything right so she could figure out what was going on.

"Where is he now?"

"T&I he was taken there as soon as we got back and let him know that he had to be locked up."

"Shit!" she shouted as she walked from behind her desk and hastily out the door.

"This sucks we got Iruka back and it only raises more questions." Naruto stated as the woman left the room.

* * *

Aikido jumped back the best he could to avoid the sharp blade that the blonde wielded. It was a longer and sharper then a kunai and already had drops his blood running down it.

He was cut in dozens of places all over his body but none of it was anything life threatening. He felt the man was drawing whatever he wanted to do, out as long as he could.

A quick slash upwards while he wasn't paying attention and a line of his blood painted the floor. He grunted into the bandanna trying the best he could to keep it quiet. When he saw the man smirk he realized that he failed in his endeavor.

"So you do have a voice," he said. Spinning the blade in his hand he swung it again this time cutting Aikido horizontally across the stomach. More blood fell to the floor but this time he held back any sound from escaping

Aikido didn't like the way that this man was acting. He was strange and his antics weren't what he knew about. If it was someone else they would have proceeded to ask him a few questions for him to answer. This man seemed to want him to sufferer and he had to wonder if he was one of the people who he said he wasn't apart.

Biting the gag in his mouth as another cut was formed he tried to think of a happy place. He needed a place where he knew that this pain wouldn't be able to hurt him. It was the only thing he could do to make sure he didn't give this man the satisfaction of hearing his voice. With what the man said last it seemed that he just wanted him to scream and moan or something before he let up or made the sound escapes him more. He knew that he had to just get through this till the man got bored and moved on with what he was doing.

Hearing the sounds of what could only be heels on the floor he turned his head slightly wondering if it was only his imagination. When the man quickly undid the bandanna around his head he knew that it had to be someone big if they were coming. The sounds of a knock his cell door and the man turned around suddenly proceeding to open it as quickly as he could.

The woman standing on the other side was tall and blonde. When she looked at him with her brown eyes she saw them widen for a second before they narrowed and turned towards the blonde.

"What are you doing?" she said in a low voice that Aikido could barely pick up

"It's custom to do this to all captured ninja." The blonde man replied as he stood at attention in front of his superior

"Since when do we do it to one of our own?"

"When does one of our own come into our village with his hands tied and a mist headband around his neck?" The blonde man questioned her.

"What did you say?" she asked not hearing about that little detail.

"He was brought in with a mist headband around his neck. As well as having his hands tied and his chakra sealed."

Walking further into the room Tsunade made a face as she smelt the blood in the air. She saw lines of it on the floor and saw the blood on Iruka's skin and realized that maybe it was as bad as she thought. She knew most of the wounds weren't aimed for anything serious but it still didn't stop her from going over him with the eye of a medic nin. Moving forward so that she was in front of the tied up man she looked him in the eyes. In them she saw almost nothing, which was surprising. When she walked in the room she could have thought she saw a familiar spark of knowledge in his eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked softly. The man in front of her just seemed to glare at her eyes narrowed in distaste before he looked away to the wall in the far sides of the room somewhere.

"Look at me when I am talking to you." She reached out and took his face in between her hand moving it so he was back to looking at her. His eyes narrowed more and he bit her in between the thumb and pointer finger. She retracted her hand quickly inspecting it to see if he drew blood and was glad when she noticed not a single trace of it just some teeth marks.

"How dare you." The blonde man said his low voiced outraged as he witnessed the scene. Taking out that blade again and driving it through the brown haired man's side.

Aikido not expecting this pain grunted loudly as the blade probably hit something vital inside him. He was almost amazed at with what he did to the blonde woman how the man reacted. He must have done something really bad for the man to react the way he did.

"Takeshi!" the woman yelled.

The blonde man pulled out the blade and turned to the woman not looking the least bit disturbed by her yelling at him.

"Leave us." She ordered simply.

The man looked like he wanted to argue with her but instead he just nodded once and walked right to the door. Looking at her one more time she nodded and he left without a sound closing the door tightly as he left.

Approaching Aikido she looked at the wound that was freshly made. Blood was pouring down his leg and what was left of his pants but the man didn't seem to hit anything vital. Calling up her chakra she healed the wound letting it close before taking her hand away. She still didn't know what he was doing here but she didn't want any of her ninja to be injured. Even if it was only closing up a wound.

"Iruka," she started "what happened to you?" Looking him in the eyes she wanted to see if she could get an honest answerer out of him.

"That isn't my name." Aikido responded almost angry. Here was another person who called him by that name.

"Then what is your name?" Tsunade asked curious about who this man thought he was.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" He wriggled in his binding a second. "If you're expecting me to thank you for getting rid of that man don't worry, I won't. I didn't need you to heal me either."

"What do you mean you didn't need me to heal you?"

"You're just like that man. You'll say something about me being from here and how I saved someone, heal me, and then try to make me believe I have friends in this village."

"You do have friends this village. Dozens of them actually don't you remember?"

"I have no friends here!" He yelled at her the sounds of the chains on his wrist making sounds as he tried to dive at her to make her shut up.

"Iruka, what is wrong with you?" She asked again.

"That isn't my name! Stop calling me that!" He yelled loudly again trying to move his hands so he could strangle the woman who was before him. That name did what it usually did, fill him with pain doubt and other emotions he didn't want to deal with at the moment. So he did the only thing he could he spat in her face.

The appalled look on the blonde's face made him want to laugh. He kept his laughter to himself thought as he watched her rub the spit off her cheek. Her face turned completely red and she backhanded him the next second with the same hand she just used to wipe away the spit. When he righted himself she saw that he had a split lip.

"Do you know who I am?" She yelled furiously.

"A bitch?" he asked without the slightest hint of remorse.

Driving her fist hard into his stomach she clenched her teeth. Ally or not no one was allowed to talk to her like that and she would make sure that he learned his lesson.

Letting out a wheezing cough as the air was driven out of his lungs he fell forward the only things keeping him up were the chains encasing his wrist.

"Hitting me won't make you any less of a bitch." he spat out while trying to regain his breath.

"Watch it Brat." she warned cracking her knuckles knowing that she would probably end up using her fist again if his insolence kept up. She would say that Iruka wouldn't act like this but the man before her wasn't acting anything like the kind hearted teacher she knew. He was acting like a completely different person, exactly as they as they had said he was earlier. She didn't know who this man but something told her he didn't know who he was either.

"I will ask again, do you know who I am?" this time he shook his head instead of mouthing off to her. So she figured out he could learn his lesson.

"I'm the Hokage of this village, and you will not talk to me like that again." She stated simply watching for any flicker of emotion on his face.

Holding back a scathing response he allowed himself to look her over. She looked a little too young to be leading a village full of ninja. She was blonde and seemed to know some medical jutsu since she healed his wound. Not the same way that Takeshi seemed to heal the mark over his back but completely. He didn't feel any of the pain there anymore and he was almost thankful for that.

"Well excuse me for not bowing to you but as you can see I am a tied up at the moment." He said ratting his chains.

Gritting her teeth she moved closer to the man the placing her hand over his head. Her hands were enveloped in healing chakra glowing green as she looked for any signs of injury on his head.

"What are you doing?"

"Shut up." She hissed and looked for anything that could have caused him to lose his memory. Knowing how long he has been gone she knew that it was a long shot. It was one she was willing to take though.

Aikido kept his mouth shut as she did what it was she wanted to do. When she pulled her hands away frowning he knew that she didn't find what she was looking for. She gave him a look and walked out of the room after that.

Outside Tsunade closed the door and leaned back against it. She couldn't find traces of any swelling or bruising that would have let her know that he lost him memory in a combat. She swore that she knew that real him was in him somewhere if that one second told her anything

Sighing she started to form ideas and think of the paperwork she would need to make sure that he wasn't touched but she knew that she could only hold off standard T&I protocol for a while even if she was the kage. The elders would have her head if they found her protecting a traitor and she just hopped that they didn't find out before she wanted them to. She just knew Takeshi was ready to go back torturing the man.

* * *

Kato's fist clenched as he realized that something probably did happen to his nephew. It had been several days and there was still no word of him. A few of his Anbu didn't even report back to him as they were still in their search for the missing ninja. He knew that they were trying their best but that didn't stop him from worrying. His only remaining family member was gone and he felt the pain of loss again. He knew that he couldn't lose hope but in this instant it was gone.

The man sighed and unclenched his fist as he looked down at the paperwork on his desk. It was mostly reports about suspicious activities that went on during the festival. He knew they shouldn't allow people into their village but it became such a tradition he didn't dare change it. Some of his ninjas went on high alert during the festival pointing out everything foreigners did. Some slacked off and didn't seem to care and just enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the over crowded streets basking in temporary happiness and not the usual melancholy of death that usually followed them around. He knew that this is what his village needed the downtime for relaxing.

He should have spent time with his family though, granted it only consisted of him and his nephew but that was still family. They were all the other had at the moment and he couldn't help but feel like a failure. If he wouldn't have been so caught up with what was going on in the village he knew he could have prevented anything that could have happened. He knew his nephew wasn't weak but it still did not stop him from wanting to know what cause him to go missing. He swore that whatever caused the man's disappearance was going to be ripped apart by his own damn hands.

He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts and stared down at the first sheet in the pile and quickly skimmed over it. As expected it was nothing of interest just a report about some kid who almost caused a fight in one of the subsections of the village. Looking over it he saw that it was resolved by Serif which he found odd, but didn't question it. His head of T&I was a bit more happy then most people would care to see but he knew that the man could become exceedingly cold when it came to his line of work. If he didn't know better he could swear that the man was two different people.

A soft knock was heard before a second later the door was opened Kato looked up from where he was sitting scanning reports and he growled. He didn't like to be interrupted even if it was something as boring as going over reports himself.

"Come in." he said through gritted teeth. He was still angry over the fact that his nephew was missing and knew that he couldn't take it out on his secretary no matter how pissed off he was.

"A woman and her child are seeking an audience to speak with you." The secretary said simply gauging his leader's reaction.

Kato's fist clenched again as he didn't feel the mood to humor anybody with his current attitude and was about to tell the man that exact reasoning when they spoke up again.

"They said they had some information which is important to you."

Kato's eyes narrowed as he thought of what kind of information anyone could give him that he would find important.

"Did they tell you what it was?" he asked now curious about what it could be.

"No, they said that they would only talk to you about it sir."

Eyes still narrowed and his jaw clenched as he nodded to the man and watched as he left. If the person didn't give him anything of value he would have them tossed into a cell or give them a session with Serif. It would be a lot better than him flaying them alive on the spot. He didn't like to waste time and didn't care for other people wasting his time even if he was the leader.

Seconds later he heard his door open and two people entered his office. One was a tall woman who seemed to be pushing a small girl of about ten in front of her. The woman didn't seem afraid of him and seemed more concerned about the girl though.

The little girl had tears trailing down her cheeks and in her hand seems to be fragments of something that was once made of ice. The ice shards seemed to gleam in the light of the room.

"What are you here for?" his voice echoed in the large room.

"It's not me who has something to tell you." The woman stated as she pushed her daughter a little further ahead of her.

The Mizukage recognized the young girl as the kid that Aikido used his blood limit for. He looked into her hands and saw that the shards were slowly melting. If he was right-

"It broke." The little girl said meekly as she looked at the man in front of her.

"What did?" Kato said raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"H...he made a rose for me and it broke." The girl said casting her eyes back down to what was in her hands and letting tears fall once again as she saw the shards melting.

"Exactly what happened?" he questioned her softly not wanting to scare the girl more then he needed to.

"I was staring at it and it broke right in front of me." Yari said in her tearful voice.

"Can you tell me anything that happened before it broke?" he continued trying to pull what he could from the little girl. If his hunch was right she was probably the last one to see him before his disappearance.

"He was escorting me through the festival and then mom came and picked me up. When I got home I started at it like I usually do and then it just shattered." She spoke with a tearful voice.

"Hey listen," The Mizukage spoke as softly as he could. "I need you to think back was there anything wrong with him before you left with your mother?"

Yari closed her eyes and though back a few days ago. She tried to see everything like her teacher taught her to but realized it wasn't as easy as her teacher made it seem. Then again her sensei said being a ninja wasn't something one became overnight.

Opening her eyes she looked at the leader of the village. "There were some people following him. One of them had blonde hair and" She shook her head losing the image she made. "I'm sorry that is all I can remember."

"The other two had black hair. One was styled in back oddly and the others hair seemed to defy gravity" The woman interjected for her daughter. She caught a better glance at the men who were following the ninja.

The man's gaze switched from her daughter to her in an instant.

"Did they have anything else that you could recall?" he needed to know what else she could tell him.

"One was older and the other two seemed to be teenagers. The older wore an eye patch over his left eye. There was some charka coming off of him but I couldn't tell what it was. It was probably the chakra from a minor transformation." The woman answered quickly used to being grilled for answers.

Kato nodded at her and tucked the information away. He walked back around his desk and looked at the first report there again. A blonde haired foreigner-

"Have you ever seen any of them in the village before?" he asked staring down at the report. If his hunch was right he needed to get Serif in here as soon as possible.

"No sir." She responded.

"Where is Aikido?" the youngest in the room inquired.

"He's been missing for a few days." He spoke with without the barest trace of emotion in his voice. With how he felt at the moment he didn't think it was entirely possible.

"What!" The little girl yelled as new tears started to come to her eyes. She turned them to her mother. "He's lying right mom, tell me he's lying."

"I think it's best if you take her home." He commanded as he sat back down in his chair.

"Mommy where is Aikido?" The little girl's voice was heard from the hallway as she taken out of his office. He sighed as he felt the same way she did angry and scared but unlike her he wasn't allowed to cry. He had to find his nephew and get him home where he belonged.

"Anemone!" he yelled the instant his doors closed and a second later a female Anbu member who had a mask with floral markings appeared. "Go get Serif." He ordered. The woman tilted her head to the side almost questioning him. He responded to the unasked question "No he isn't in trouble but he is needed here now." As soon as the words left his lips she disappeared in the swirls of water vapors.

As soon as Anemone's charka was gone another new chakra was felt and in an instant he was on alert thinking it was an attack. He was relieved to see a porcelain mask and arms bared with the swirl of an Anbu tattoo.

"Eel, what do you have to report?" he asked letting his guard drop down slightly in the presence of the lanky man.

The man in question reached underneath his cloak and pulled out a tattered kimono the bottom of it had waves on it and he realized it was the one someone had sent to his nephew. It wasn't as pristine as it once was. The blue was filthy with dirt and the edges of it were frayed. What was once something beautiful to look at looked like the person wearing it was attacked and dragged off.

The man stared at it.

"Where did you find this at?" Kato looked at the cloth still being held out and closed his eyes before looking back into the hidden ones of eel.

"I found it a few miles outside of the village. It was partially buried as if someone knew what we were looking for." Eel answered his voice deep as he waited for another question to be asked.

"Buried? You mean someone tampered with something like this and didn't report it?" he uttered as anger slowly started to creep into his voice.

"Correct sir." The man confirmed.

"What area was it in when you found it? Do you know who was patrolling that area before you?" he yelled out as his anger got the best of him. Someone was trying to keep secrets from him in his own village something which affected him directly he felt he had the right to be pissed off.

Before any of Kato's questions could be answered the sound a teleportation jutsu was heard and this time two water vapors appeared. One was Anemone the other was the tall blonde man Serif.

"You asked for me sir." The blonde said respectfully.

"What can you tell me about this foreigner?" he said as he picked up the piece of paper and handed it to the blonde. Green eyes scanned the page quickly to see what the man was talking about before he nodded and handed it back.

"His name is Naruto and he is from fire country. He almost got into a fight with Loki who is currently behind bars again." He cut himself off before he mentioned that the kid's favorite food was ramen.

"Did you see Aikido at anytime?" he questioned.

"I think I saw him briefly when I was leaving." The blonde furrowed his brows in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"Aikido has been missing for a few days." He pointed to where Eel was standing holding a kimono.

"Have you-"

"Don't you think I already done that!" Kato said as he searched his drawers. Finding what he wanted he pulled out a scroll unraveling it he looked over the names written on it. Running a finger across several of them he waited.

In a few seconds chakra flared and three men were kneeling before him arm across their chest and their head bowed down.

"You summoned." The three Anbu agents said in unison.

"You five," he directed a stare at Anemone then one to Eel. "Are you come with me we are going to Konoha."

"Sir if you don't mind me asking how can you be so sure that the kid was involved in Aikido's disappearance?" Serif questioned.

"He was following Aikido at the festival. The little girl and her mother told me and if my hunch is right they probably took him there. I will see to it that he personally is brought back home safely." the man walked from around his desk the scroll with the names on it disappearing into a hidden place only he had access to. Throwing the doors to his office he made to storm out when he was met by an elder who looked shocked at being caught with his ear to the door.

"Lord Mizukage you can't just leave you have a entire village to take care of!" the elder cried out as he ran in front of the Kage hoping that he would be able to persuade the man to stay and not follow on his foolish journey.

"You deal with it!" The man yelled as he made his way his way past the elder.

Instead of looking miffed the elder looked pleased with what the leader had said. He knew that the other elders could help to control the village but maybe this is what he needed to persuade the others to appoint someone else as leader. Someone else they could control a lot easier then the explosive man.

That simple thought caused a smile to light up his face and he turned to go to the room where council meetings were held already planning on what to say to convince them and what proof he could provide.

* * *

'How long have I been here?' the prisoner wondered. Without any windows or light it was hard to tell when one day ended and another day began. The only thing that could pass for time was when some woman came in and force-fed him something that tasted horrible. He knew it wasn't anywhere near as good as it should be but it was enough to keep him alive. She had come three times so he assumed three days had passed.

He began to wonder what was worse. Being here alone in the cell or having either of the blondes in here with him. The woman was fun to rile up all he had to do was call her a name and threaten her. It seemed she was cautious to enough to heal him though so she wouldn't try to seriously harm him. This wasn't that much of a surprise if he thought about it higher ups didn't like to get their hands dirty and he assumed that she was one of those people. She probably thought she was too good to dirty her hands. Then again if she was why did she heal him? It wasn't as bad as it looked but still she approached him and healed his wound.

He wondered what he said that made her leave though she seemed to make a hasty exit.

The man though seemed to be in a different state of mind. He liked to inflict pain, yet it seemed he didn't want to seriously harm him. He knew that the man was bound to know ways to really disable an opponent but he supposed that the fun wasn't in making him hurt too much, it was making him scream. He was glad that he had yet to really scream though. The most he did was yell at the blonde woman who again left him alone. The man didn't seem worth his time to even argue with or let alone speak with. The woman on the other hand he felt some kind of connection with.

Why was it every time he met someone from this village he felt some kind of connection. It made absolutely no sense at all to him why was this happening to him. He should have told those three he didn't know who they were talking about and left it alone.

He had to laugh at that thought.

They wouldn't have left him alone. None of the others did which is why he had to get rid of them. Some of them chose to follow him back into the village corner him and force him to listen that is how it always went. So he cut out chitchat and just killed them if they called him by that name.

Hearing the telltale sign of his door being opened he hoped it was that girl again. He was feeling a bit hungry and would rather her come since she just fed him and left as quickly as she could. She seemed to almost be ashamed to see the man in the chains. He didn't know if he had the mental power to really fight off another batch of questions or have that blonde man cut into his body again.

When the door was opened he was disappointed to find Takeshi looking at him with sunglasses on his face. Reaching up he took off the pair folding them and putting them in his vest pocket. In his left hand he was carrying a leather bag. Aikido stared at it for a few moments wondering what could possibly be in it.

Takeshi moved dropped the bag on the floor by the door and walked to him. Taking Aikido's face was between leather coated fingers his face was moved in the direction of the blonde. Without the man's glasses he could see his red eyes again and he shivered.

"You know," he said as he squeezed Aikido's face a bit harder. "I should thank you for saying what you did to her." The man almost smiled at him. He knew it that a smiling interrogator was not something to be joyful for. "I had plenty of time to think of what to do with you. I also had a little treat made for you."

The blonde released his face as he turned towards the bag he left on the floor he tilted his head to the side debating what he should do before he turned back towards the brunette. He punched Aikido in the stomach and pulled his hair back so again he was looking into red eyes.

"You see, I can hurt you, but that won't get me what I want if you don't talk. So we have to find some other ways." The blonde let go of the man's hair as he turned and walked towards the bag. Opening it he pulled out a vial filled with some yellowish liquid. He placed it on a table that Aikido didn't notice until now; he also pulled out a black case, which he again put on the table. Looking back into the bag Takeshi pulled out another black case and then he turned to look at his prisoner. He smirked for a second before reaching for the vial and first black case.

Inside the case were several senbon needles all line up and looking pristine. The man took the vial and opened it before dipping an end quickly in the yellow liquid. When he was done he threw it at Aikido, the projectile hitting him in his shoulder.

Aikido had to grit his teeth as a burning pain came over him. His shoulder felt like it was on fire and he wanted to do anything to put it out. His already tired arms felt even worse as seconds ticked by. He thrashed for a good minute before the pain finally went away.

"Nice isn't it" The man asked, taking the vial of the liquid with him as he walked towards the bound man. When he reached him he looked him once over before his eyes landed on a on his chest. The area he was looking at was where he carved his village's symbol into him. Taking the vial he poured a little bit of the liquid on the wound.

Aikido's eyes rolled back into his head as he fought to try and stop the burning sensation again. This time thought it was different instead of just burning it felt like his skin was trying to rip itself open. When the pain finally faded he opened his eyes to stare at the blonde who was smirking.

"Amazing, no?" walking back to the table he opened both cases showing that they were both full of senbon. Taking ten of them out he proceeded to dip them in the liquid. When he was done he launched them all at the brunette.

When the poison coated senbon needles struck him he saw white. Aikido was pretty sure he blacked out since the next thing that happened was he was being woken up by a bucket of water being dumped onto him.

"Disappointing," Takeshi said as he went back to his needles again this time pulling one out and throwing it. The needle struck his chest and he shook in pain as the toxin worked its way though his body.

Aikido cried out as he felt the familiar pain course through his body and wished he had access to his chakra. When he looked down he saw that the water below him was solidifying. Instantly he wondered what was going on and looked towards his hands. The blood seal was slowly being washed away allowing him once again to access his chakra. He smirked softly to himself as he called for the water to go up his back and slowly make its way to his cuffs. He had to be careful though he didn't want the man to get any wiser, if he saw the water moving he might realize what he did by accident.

Another needle was thrown and Aikido cried out again. He had to get out of here fast he didn't know how much he could take since those needles hurt like hell. The man though seemed none the wiser and all he wanted was for the man in chains to cry out and yell and since he was doing just that since he started using these needles he knew that the man was enjoying himself.

When the next needle was launched Aikido had the water solidify around the chain breaking them as he moved to the left dodging out of the way of the needle. The expression on the man's face wasn't fear it seemed to be interested.

"How did you get free?" he questioned calmly.

Aikido kept his face calm as willed the water to slowly move across the ground. He looked at the man who turned and placed the vial back on the table almost as if he was afraid of it breaking.

Takeshi reached under his coat and took out two kunai that he threw at Aikido. Moving the barest amount of spaced he needed to avoid the attack he stayed in his position and waited. The attacker looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Not going to take revenge?" Takeshi questioned as he moved into a fighting stance slowly getting ready to defend himself from the incoming attack.

Aikido let his eyes flicker down for a second as he watched the water slowly circle around the man's feet. When he saw that it was already underneath him he smirked slightly.

That smirk set the man on edge and he tried to go back when he realized he was stuck. He looked down and noticed the water slowly freezing as it started to curl and circle around his body. He tried to move once but as soon as he tried he felt his balance faltering instead of sacrificing it he put his hands down to his sides knowing that his lack of attention was what allowed him to be caught in the prisoners trap.

"I see," Takeshi said as the water and ice spun up and encased his arms. When it was reached his shoulders it suddenly stopped and he knew his life was in the prisoner's hand.

Aikido walked to the table and picked up the vial with that horrible yellow liquid in it. Letting it drop to the floor he watched as it mixed with water changing the color slightly. It moved in the direction of the prisoner and into the block of ice. The man showed no real fear as he watched it crawl and mix with water. Rolling his shoulders back slightly Aikido brought his hands up and made a few hand seals.

Takeshi watched as he made his seals and when he felt the first bit of ice pierce his skin he felt the urge to laugh. His own medicine was literally turned against him.

Aikido unleashed his fury the ice prison shooting dozens of ice spikes into the man mixed with his own vial of toxins. He wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not when floor was slowly being stained with blood and yet the man didn't scream.

End of Chapter 8 Part 1

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So yeah this story is about the length of a novel. I just realized that not too long ago. I just hope that it is a good novel. Wish me luck on an original story I am writing. I hope that it will be as good of a story as CT is. If you're curious about what that project is feel free to ask I like talking about it. Review please **gives puppy eyes**. Next chapter of CT coming when it comes.


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